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Stephanie Wiechmann
Development starts on campus at the corner of McKinley and University Avenues with a performing arts center. It will have two public performance spaces and be used by the Department of Theater and Dance, as well as welcoming local school and arts events. Ball State President Geoffrey Mearns says the center reaffirms a commitment to arts while supporting new economic development.

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Geoffrey Mearns
With Emens Auditorium, with the university theaters, with Sursa Hall, with the David Owsley Museum of Art, we already are the arts and culture center for all of East central Indiana. And this is another way in which we can elevate that commitment.

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Stephanie Wiechmann
The center will also be paired with a hotel and arts themed restaurant run by outside companies. Next door in the near Campus Village business area, Ohio development firm Fairmount Properties will spend $100 million to build out four more spaces. Plans include space for restaurants, retail and innovation, and an outdoor event space. And there are plans for new apartments and townhouses aimed at attracting Ball State and IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital employees.

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Stephanie Wiechmann
All that fit with Muncie Mayor Dan Ridenour’s efforts to increase economic development and housing options in the city.

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Dan Ridenour
Our real estate market is tight. People want to live here. We're looking at 70% of the people who've moved into those new apartments downtown. Worked here, but didn't work, didn't live here. So this goes a long way to help with that particular situation.

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Stephanie Wiechmann
On Friday, Ball State and Fairmount Properties signed what's called a memorandum of understanding to develop the Performing Arts Center and village land. Design work can now begin with the hope for some plans to come before Ball State trustees at the end of the year. Approvals of all kinds are needed, including from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, for the Performing Arts Center.

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Stephanie Wiechmann
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2024. Martin says the first performances in the new space could begin as early as fall of 2025. In Muncie, Stephanie Wiechmann, IPR news.