Muncie board OKs street closures, noise exemptions for Heekin Park fireworks, Ball State homecoming and downtown events

The Muncie Board of Public Works and Safety granted several street closures and noise exemptions on July 22 for community events, including a Superator basketball tournament with end‑of‑event fireworks at Heekin Park, Ball State University’s homecoming events, downtown First Thursday activity hosted by Madjax, and an amendment to the Muncie Central marching band contest route.

Zion Strong, representing Superator Inc., told the board the summer tournament will host teams from around the U.S. and that the event organizer planned a brief fireworks display on the baseball field at the close of the championship game (expected about 8:00–8:15 p.m.). Strong said the fireworks are residential grade from BoomTown and that he had arranged 15 contracted security officers and coordination with police and the fire chief. “We wanted to do, like, at the end of celebration, do fireworks … just for the community,” Strong said.

Board members asked about the fireworks’ proximity to park shelters and lingering crowds; Strong said the display would be staged at the baseball field and that security could be extended toward 10:00 p.m. to discourage lingering.

Ashley Anderson of the Ball State Foundation presented five homecoming requests — including a midweek DJ/pep‑rally (5–8 p.m.), the Friday bed race with a Riverside street closure, the Chase Charlie run, and the Saturday homecoming parade downtown through campus. Anderson said Ball State is celebrating its 100th homecoming and that the event requests mirrored previous years. “This will be our 100th homecoming that we’re celebrating,” Anderson said.

Carly from Madjax Maker Force requested Main Street closures for First Thursday events in August and October and for Madjax to serve as a Soup Crawl location in October with several vendors; she said Madjax partners with Cornerstone Ventures and city staff for signage and safety.

Jeff Green, representing the marching band, asked the board to amend an existing closure to include an additional area near Star Financial Bank so bands crossing Wiser Avenue have a safer route; the board approved the amendment after confirming coordination with police.

All event requests were moved, seconded and approved on voice votes. No individual roll‑call tallies were recorded in the transcript.

What’s next: Event organizers were told to sign closure documents after the meeting and continue coordinating with city public‑safety staff.