Walmart Store Rumored In Batesville

By Mike Perleberg

(Batesville, Ind.) - Officials are being tight-lipped concerning rumors that Walmart may be looking to build a store in Batesville.

There is an online petition at Change.org titled “Wal-Mart: We are AGAINST a Wal-Mart Store in Batesville, IN”. As of this morning, the petition has more than 550 supporters opposing such a store in the city.

The petition – authored by a person identifying themselves only as “Batesville Resident” - was addressed to Michele Balser, City of Batesville Building Secretary, and Tim Macyauski, the city’s Building Commissioner.

The petition states the proposed store would be located on State Road 46 near Batesville Primary School. Tudor Square Realty is the agency handling the property. Tudor Square’s principal broker, Bob Koester, declined to comment to Eagle 99.3 on the rumors.

Batesville Mayor Rick Fledderman was unavailable for comment Wednesday morning. A phone message left at the mayor’s office was not returned.

Meanwhile, Ripley County Economic Development Director Gary Norman said he has not seen or heard anything official about a proposed Walmart. The board president of Franklin County Economic Development said he was not aware of anything either.

A request for information sent to Walmart’s corporate media relations office Wednesday did not garner a response from the company.