00;00;00;05 - 00;00;08;08
Daniel Huber
An hour before the stores open, as hit tunes from the 80s and 90s blare on the speakers. People like Billie Sommers are starting their day with a nice walk around the mall.

00;00;08;08 - 00;00;14;02
Billie Sommers
And I just happen to have my grandson with me today because he's off work today. But the rest of the week I'll be by myself.

00;00;14;03 - 00;00;22;26
Daniel Huber
Sommers has been retired for about 15 years and has been walking around the mall ever since. Over time, she saw the place change. She says she's not happy about the mall's demolition.

00;00;22;26 - 00;00;29;05
Billie Sommers
But I can understand if I owned a property, that's probably how I would feel, too. We've lost so many businesses when.

00;00;29;05 - 00;00;42;02
Daniel Huber
It comes to alternatives. Walkers are looking at the downtown YMCA, Ball State University's Jo Ann Gora Student Recreation and Wellness Center. And if the weather is nice, exercising outside. But for people like Dwight Smith, there's nothing quite like the Muncie Mall.

00;00;42;03 - 00;00;48;14
Dwight Smith
There used to be 100 people at least walking, and you can see friends, and it's just a good place to come and see people and talk to people.

00;00;48;15 - 00;00;55;00
Daniel Huber
Walkers say there's benefits to the mall. It's an enclosed space, which means it's cool in the summer and warm in the winter. And it's affordable, so.

00;00;55;00 - 00;01;08;16
Dwight Smith
There's no place to go inside where you can really dedicate walking. I mean, you can go to Menards or Meijer or someplace like that and walk, but not the way you can hear unobstructed. And you know, where you can set your own pace like that. So I don't know if that's probably going to place well.

00;01;08;17 - 00;01;14;26
Daniel Huber
In the meantime, the mall will still be a place for walkers to show up before it goes down. I'm Daniel Huber in Muncie.