A cleared vacant lot will be the site of the new Gateway Park at the southwest corner of Madison and Main streets. The city of Muncie received a Ball Brothers Foundation grant of $63,000 to install sidewalks, landscaping and lighting for the park. (Photo: Corey Ohlenkamp/The Star Press )
MUNCIE – Projects marking Muncie’s sesquicentennial and Indiana’s bicentennial received major funding boosts recently from the Ball Brothers Foundation.
The city of Muncie will use a $63,000 grant from the foundation to add sidewalks, landscaping and lighting to Gateway Park, currently under construction at the southwest corner of Madison and Main streets leading into the downtown district.
“The Gateway Park project will ultimately turn what once was an eyesore within our community into a beautiful outdoor space,” said Harvey Wright, superintendent of the Muncie Parks Department, in requesting the grant. “Our objective is for travelers on East Main Street to see the park and get a positive first impression of Muncie’s downtown. It will welcome incoming visitors as well as residents.” The site is scheduled for completion by July 2015, in time for Muncie’s 150th anniversary celebration.
A $90,700 grant to the Indiana Historical Society will support an exhibition called “You are There 1948: Communities Can!” that celebrates contributions by Ball Brothers Company to the food preservation tradition.
The “Communities Can!” interactive exhibition will open in March 2016 as part of Indiana’s bicentennial observance. Similar to other Indiana Historical Society displays, the exhibit will invite visitors to step back in time and experience a moment in the state’s history. A 1948 photograph, borrowed from Minnetrista archives, provided the model for the “You Are There” depiction. The photo shows a group of women gathered around a preparation table in the Ball Brothers Company Community Canning Center on Macedonia Avenue in Muncie. The date of the picture is significant because Ball Brothers began offering expert canning services to its employees and Muncie housewives in 1948. Actors will portray the women as they learn to preserve fruits and vegetables for their families.
“Both these projects commemorate important anniversaries in creative ways,” said Jud Fisher, president and chief operating officer of BBF. “Gateway Park will remain a permanent reminder of Muncie’s sesquicentennial, and ‘Communities Can!’ will give Hoosiers the opportunity to witness history and interact with a past generation.” The Historical Society’s exhibit will continue through 2017 and later will travel to venues throughout the state.
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