MUNCIE, Ind. — At the Room 5 Piano Bar last Saturday evening, 2150 W White River Blvd, a major update on plans for the Mark III Tap Room was announced. When its last location, 306 Walnut St., had a pipe burst at the beginning of 2024, nobody was sure if the place would reopen after its targeted date months later never came to fruition.

Being passed the torch are Tracy Letzler and Ryder Martz, the new owners for its next iteration. While there are no concrete plans for where the space will be located, the new owners desire to keep the community in the loop as much as possible.

Not only is it the oldest gay bar in the state of Indiana, but is in fact older than the Stonewall riots of 1969. It was even mentioned that its founding in 1968 would even give it the status as the second oldest gay bar in the United States. Ryder spoke with the Post-Democrat about what’s in store for the new space, and the new opportunities that will be available.

“Our definite end game is to have a wide open space for everybody. Yes, we want our typical bar, but we also want others spaces for everybody, you know. So if different groups want to step in like MQA (Muncie Queer Alliance) and have a meeting space, things like that. […] We’re kind of seeing what we can find, what we can run into, and what we can do with what we have.” In a post Monday, the new owners wrote that the place has “never been just a bar. It’s been a refuge, a family room, and a home for so many of us.”