MUNCIE – Nearly $4 million has been earmarked to demolish 208 vacant/abandoned houses, many of which are historic, in Muncie neighborhoods.
What should be done about all of the empty lots that will be created? Some say vacant lots are just another form of blight, like missing teeth.
A prototype of one option is emerging in the Old West End Neighborhood.
The Community Circle is a park sitting at Main and Cherry streets on a corner lot where a dilapidated house was razed. Brick sidewalks like spokes in a wheel lead to the center of the park, which will hold a sculpture. Other elements will include pollinator/herb gardens, granite benches and a wooden pergola. Redbud trees, apricot trees and red twig dogwood shrubs enclose the space.
“We’re hoping to start slowly filling in the gaps,” says Nick Kawa, an assistant professor at Ball State University. “We’re also hoping these projects like The Hub (community garden at Main and High streets) and the Community Circle will serve as models for other neighborhoods. We’d love to see over time a series of these gardens and parks linked together for a walking tour.”
The new park is the result of a collaboration involving Old West End residents, landscape architecture students at Ball State University, the mayor’s office, the city redevelopment commission, Townsend Corp., Wearly Monuments, ROC architectural salvage, Ontario Systems, the city-county storm water management department, Ball Brothers Foundation and others.
“It’s great to see everyone pulling together there,” said Jud Fisher, president of Ball Brothers, which granted $5,000 to the project. “This was one of our quality of place initiative grants. The lot has been cleaned up, it looks good and it complements the different rehabilitation of the houses along there. It’s really important as people drive by. The aesthetic improvement is a great thing for the Old West End. It makes it look and feel better. It’s also a place where people can gather.”