Ball honors house

History
The Ball Honors House is home to Ball State University’s Honors College. Located at 1707 Riverside Avenue, this Colonial Revival house was built in the 1930s. This historic building is significant due to its association with Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball, to whom the house belonged. Both Edmund and Virginia made significant contributions to the histories of Ball State and Muncie.
Edmund was the son of Edmund B. Ball, one of the five Ball brothers who helped Muncie flourish in the Gas Boom and whom started the school that would eventually become Ball State University. He spent his entire working career with the Ball Corporation, of which he was president, chairman of the board, and director emeritus during his life. He served on many boards and committees in Muncie and throughout Indiana. “He was honorary chairman and founder of Muncie Airport, Inc.; chairman, Minnetrista Corporation, Ball Brothers Foundation; chairman of the board of Muncie Aviation Company; chairman of Ball Memorial Hospital Health Services, Inc.; honorary trustee of Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Ind.; honorary director, Ball Memorial Hospital, and honorary trustee of Asheville School, Asheville,” among holding many other important positions. He received an honorary doctor of law degree from Ball State, and was awarded the President’s Medal from Ball State President Worthen in 1995 for his “significant and unselfish contributions to the advancement of the university, community, state and nation.”
Virginia was a philanthropist and advocate for education. She supported the arts and humanities in Muncie, helping found the Minnetrista Center, the Muncie Children's Museum, and the Cornerstone Center for the Arts. She also founded the Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry at Ball State University in 2000, which sponsors four interdisciplinary seminars each year “in which faculty and students create a major product—an exhibit, a theatrical production, a film, a book. These products are designed in collaboration with community sponsors and are presented in a community forum for discussion and debate.” Since its founding, the Center has become a national and international model for innovative education.
Edmund Ball first appears in the Muncie City Directories as living at 1707 Riverside Ave in 1936, so the house must have been constructed around this time. The 1954 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for Muncie show the house as it appears today, so any alterations to the building occurred before 1954. Ball State University acquired the Ball Honors House in 2003 after Virginia’s death. The house underwent a two-year, $1.3 million renovation to transform it from a residence to an academic building that would meet current codes for a commercial space. “The existing garage was converted into a classroom, offices were added, electric services were upgraded and the facility was accessible to the disabled.” Tennis courts and an outbuilding were removed to create a patio and outdoor space. The house was rehabilitated to maintain its historic character and design as much as possible. Some changes had to be made to the interior to accommodate the needs of the Honors College. One example is in the library, which was redesigned to hold Colloquium classes. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves were removed to fit the classroom furniture necessary for these classes. Despite some minimal interior changes, though, the University worked very hard to maintain the integrity of this historic building.

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