The face of the Village is changing.
There has been a shakeup among the management of three Muncie restaurants, and two of them are located near Ball State's campus. A few of the owners of the Locker Room and Benjamin's Restaurant have decided to call it quits after years of being known as a dominant force in Muncie's restaurant business, and Dill Street Bar and Grill is now under the management of Phill Wills, former owner of the Locker Room.
While Benjamin's was a force for fine dining for the Muncie community, the Locker Room and Dill Street are both hot spots for college bar-hoppers.
The simple explanation from two of the owners, George Branam and Phil Wills, was that the businesses were not making money.
"Muncie is the home of franchises," Branam said. "We can always argue over if we advertised enough or was the food good enough."
Interesting, then, the response of some students who heard the restaurants were closing. Junior Kyle Hardie said he would like to see a privately-owned, sit-down restaurant.
The departure of the Locker Room from the Village is a chance to bring back some independent businesses, something that has been lacking in the Village recently. Entrepreneurs who want to try their hand at the restaurant business, or at anything else, for that matter, should come forward and give it a shot. Some successful independents still exist in the Village such as the mt Cup and White Rabbit bookstore. Something new and different is exactly what the campus needs to liven up the nightlife once again.
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