Despite America’s reputation abroad as a country that tears everything down, lots of our buildings have been repurposed. Some get such flawless makeovers that you’d never guess their former lives, while others wear their past loud and proud. Muncie has a perfect example in its Baymont Inn. Its massive porte-cochère immediately identifies the motel as an old Signature Inn.
Signature Inn got its start in 1978, when John Bontreger set out to create a hotel brand tailored to business travelers in central Indiana1. The concept took off quickly! New locations popped up in northwest Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Castleton, and Lafayette before finally arriving in Muncie in 19842. With more than a hundred rooms and a prime spot along West Bethel Pike near the interstate, Muncie’s example hotel joined a wave of modern chains that changed the local lodging scene. For longtime local fixtures like the Hill Top, it was one more nail in the coffin.
By the 1990s, the Signature Inn brand had grown to twenty-eight locations from Cleveland, Ohio, to Bettendorf, Iowa3. A lot happened between its founding and sale in 19994, though. Thirteen years later, Muncie’s became a Baymont Inn. That’s all I’m going to say about it, since a blogger friend named Ryan already wrote the comprehensive history of the chain.
Muncie’s Baymont Inn may wear new colors today, but that signature porte-cochère is a dead giveaway to anyone who remembers the heyday of Signature Inn. It’s a reminder that buildings carry their histories with them! Sometimes, they quietly tell stories of changing tastes, shifting travel trends, and the march of time- especially along West Bethel Pike in Muncie.
Sources Cited
1 Douglas, B. (1984, June 10). Business Comes First. The Muncie Star. p. 30.
2 New 102-Room Motel Opens Today (1984, May 25). The Muncie Star. p. 23.
3 Ryan (2015, June 12). Signature Inn’s History, Part One. The History of Signature Inn. Web. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
4 Francisco, B. (1999, May 20). Signature Inns sold to Georgia chain. The Muncie Star Press. p. 11.
I remember really liking Signature Inns back when they were still under that name.
I never stayed at one, but went to a birthday pool party at Muncie’s as a kid. It was a nice place!
I stayed at that Baymont a lot in Spring 2010. I really liked it, and could easily walk to the Y or to eat.
Its convenient location is a major plus!