00;00;00;01 - 00;00;08;08 Dan Ridenour Changing the management will change the vision of that mall. You put somebody in there who will have that. We're going to have on site regular management. 00;00;08;13 - 00;00;28;06 Stephanie Wiechmann Muncie Mayor Dan Ridenour says he's very excited to welcome a new full time manager to a mall that will reopen within state guidelines on Monday. The Woodmont Company is a commercial real estate agency based in Fort Worth, Texas that manages properties across the U.S.. It already has a hand in the shopping center on Morrison Road that houses Ruler Foods and PetSmart. 00;00;28;06 - 00;00;51;07 Stephanie Wiechmann Documents touting the mall's potential on Woodmont’s website show it is actively looking for a permanent buyer for the mall, touting the region to buyers as having a lively and vibrant culture. Ridenour says Woodmont will make improvements while it continues to market the mall. That's after the mall's previous owner, Washington Prime Group, told investors it would stop paying the mortgage on the location in late February, essentially giving it back to the bank. 00;00;51;10 - 00;01;01;04 Dan Ridenour I was just thrilled with what they have in mind. They were doing repairs. They were, improving some of the lighting. They were getting things ready to go. 00;01;01;10 - 00;01;09;25 Stephanie Wiechmann According to Ridenour, the mall has a current assessed tax value of $ 30 million. It's something he focused on in his first state of the city address in March. 00;01;10;02 - 00;01;27;22 Dan Ridenour The second largest assessed value that we have in the city of Muncie. What does that mean to our city's budget, our public safety budget? Our library budget? Our school system budget? The Muncie Mall is very important to us, folks. 00;01;27;29 - 00;01;49;15 Stephanie Wiechmann Before the coronavirus pandemic, Ridenour said he visited all 42 mall stores and reported only four had a bad 2019. The mall is scheduled to reopen on Monday, with hours of 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. limited by the state's reopening plan. Right now, he says about half of the stores will open. Then, with others needing more time to get ready within their corporate guidelines. 00;01;49;22 - 00;01;52;15 Stephanie Wiechmann In Muncie, Stephanie Wiechmann, IPR news.