New downtown park plans groundbreaking

MUNCIE – A groundbreaking ceremony for Muncie's newest downtown park will be at 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 10, at 101 S. Madison St.

For years the Holiday Cleaners site at the corner of Madison and Main streets, the now-empty corner lot will become Cornerstone Park, serving as a gateway to Muncie's downtown.

Features planned for the new park include extensive landscaping improvements, meandering sidewalks, streetlights, a concrete seat wall, a small performance stage, bio-swales for improved drainage, artwork by local artists, landscaped berms and various ornamental flowers, shrubs and trees., according to a release.

The city acquired the strategic location in 2013 and developed plans to demolish the existing structures and remove all of the blacktop surfaces that covered the site. "There was not one blade of grass or anything green at this location," Mayor Dennis Tyler said in the release. In addition, the site was home to a buried underground storage tank and contamination from various other sources. Through assistance from the Environmental Protection Agency working in cooperation with the City of Muncie, a Phase I and II environmental assessment was completed, the underground tank was removed and four environmental monitoring wells were installed.

The park is designed to connect with the existing and adjacent Fireman's Park, and is funded with nearly $470,000 raised from project partners including the Ball Brothers Foundation, the Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County, the George and Frances Ball Foundation, Community Enhancement Projects, the Zeigler Foundation, the Muncie Sanitary District, the Muncie Redevelopment Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency and the mayor.