March 25, 2022
Dear Colleagues:
I write to share a few highlights from today’s meetings of the Board of Trustees.
During the meetings, the Board received several presentations, including:
- A presentation from Rose Costello (associate vice president for human resources), Melinda Messineo (interim associate vice president for inclusive excellence), and Dave Ferguson (dean of our Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning) about our most recent annual diversity report and our progress in implementing our inclusive excellence plan;
- A presentation from Steve Ferris (Bryan Dean of the Miller College of Business) about the college’s new executive learning programs and the launch of the college’s new “SOAR” student success program; and
- A presentation from Jean Crosby (president of the Ball State University Foundation) and Mike Earley (chair of the Ball State University Alumni Council) about our comprehensive and coordinated plans to engage our loyal and generous graduates.
The most significant agenda item, though, concerned our University’s plans to revitalize the Village.
In our strategic plan, we identify community engagement and impact as one of our ambitious 2040 goals. A key strategic imperative of this goal is implementing a long-term, phased plan to revitalize the Village. As you know, this commercial area has undergone a slow, steady decline in recent decades.
Over the last two years, we conducted an extensive process to select a developer to partner with us to reverse this decline. The developer we have selected, Fairmount Properties, has completed other successful campus-edge projects at institutions with similar profiles to ours, including Kent State University in Ohio and the University of Rochester in New York.
Following my presentation, the Board authorized me to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Fairmount Properties. The principal terms of the MOU provide that our University will invest in the design, construction, and operation of a new performing arts center to be located on the vacant land on the corner of University Avenue and McKinley Avenue. This performing arts center will serve as the catalytic anchor for the Village as a new arts district.
In consideration of our investment in this performing arts center, we anticipate that Fairmount Properties will invest approximately $100 million in the Village. These investments may include a hotel, a mix of retail and restaurant tenants, innovation space for office and research use, an events plaza, and apartments and townhouses designed to attract professionals from our University, Ball Memorial Hospital, and other nearby employers.
Our vision for this district will create a more vibrant and dynamic environment surrounding our campus. Our new performing arts center will host more than 160 Ball State student performances each year. We anticipate that more than 35,000 people will attend these performances. And, we will make this venue available to local schools and other arts organizations for their own events.
I am grateful to my colleagues who established the foundation upon which we will build this new partnership with Fairmount Properties. I am confident that Fairmount will be an excellent partner in this revitalization project.
In the next few months, we will finalize a development agreement with Fairmount Properties, which I anticipate presenting to the Board in December 2022. If we are able to meet our aggressive timeline, we will begin construction in 2024.
During my presentation, I shared a PowerPoint with visuals of the new Village district. If you would like to see this presentation, please visit this link.
It is a privilege to serve with you, and I am excited for the bright future that is in store for our University and for our surrounding neighborhoods.
