Lilly Endowment has awarded the school $35 million through its College and Community Collaboration initiative.
Revitalizing The Village, an area near the Ball State University campus, has been a plan in the works for several years, and thanks to a grant from Lilly Endowment, the school can get the ball rolling with its planning.
According to an article on Ball State University’s website, Renae Conley, who serves as the chair of Ball State’s Board of Trustees, said of the gift and the school’s plans for it, “With the support of Lilly Endowment, we can now accelerate the implementation of our transformational plan for The Village. I look forward to the coming changes to this commercial district and to the positive, long-term impact this project will have on Muncie and East Central Indiana.”
Among the plans for the money received from Lilly Endowment is to construct a new performing arts center, hotel, restaurants, and retail spaces.
Ball State President Geoffrey S. Mearns said of the funding, “This philanthropic gift is truly extraordinary. On behalf of our University, I am grateful to Lilly Endowment for recognizing the potential of this project to improve the quality of life of every member of our community.”
Lilly Endowment’s College and Community Collaboration initiative was launched in early 2023 and aims to encourage relationships between colleges and the communities surrounding them to create higher quality of life in the area for all.
President Jennett M. Hill of Lilly Endowment said, “In designing their proposed projects, it was evident that these colleges and universities engaged a wide-ranging group of community stakeholders to imagine and develop creative solutions to pressing campus and community needs. The institutions submitted proposals that revealed robust collaborative efforts reflective of the institutions’ willingness to learn from not only campus colleagues but from local residents and businesses to help shape projects with promising potential to enhance the quality of life on their campuses and in their local communities.”
For more information about Ball State University, visit the school’s website.