Haycraft Closing Dec 31, City Center Signs, Ninja Gym Back

Key Takeaways

• The Haycraft event center downtown will close on December 31, 2026, and the building has been sold
• Nate said the building is not being torn down for a parking garage and is not being gutted
• Events at the Haycraft through December 31 are still on; nothing is scheduled there for 2027
• The mall property is now City Center, and a new directory sign has replaced the old one
• Twelve Ninja Gym returns at E-town Comics with $50 monthly memberships

Summary

Nate Bryan led with news he said he did not see coming: the Haycraft event center downtown will close on December 31, 2026. The building has been sold, and Nate spent part of his segment calming the rumors that tend to follow a sale like that.

He also covered the new signs at the property formerly known as Towne Mall, which is now City Center, and the return of a ninja gym that used to be in the mall.

Full Article

Nate changed up his usual order this week because Sam Sansone of Malibu Jack's was on the show. He had been at Malibu Jack's over the last weekend for his niece and nephew's joint birthday party, and he started with the property around it.

City Center

If you have driven past the old Towne Mall lately, the big diamond sign is gone. In its place are two new signs, Nate said. The larger one replaces a sign that had stood between McDonald's and Longhorn for what he guessed was 30 or 40 years, and this one has a directory on it, which he did not think the old one had.

The property was promised to be called City Center by October 1st, and it was. "So, now Sam can say that she is at City Center and not Towne Mall," Nate said.

He also said Visionworks, JD Sports and Buckle are opening soon, and that he will have more mall announcements next week after learning and confirming more.

The Haycraft closes December 31

"I was floored," Nate said. "I didn't see it coming."

The Haycraft event center downtown will close on December 31, 2026. Nate reminded viewers how much happened there: a comedy show he attended, weddings, comic cons, anniversaries, class reunions and the big tattoo festival. "It was very adaptable, what it could do," he said, from an intimate show of 20 or 30 people to a crowd of hundreds.

The building has been sold. Nate asked people to hold off on rumors: it is not being torn down for a parking garage, the building is not going anywhere, and it is not going to be gutted. He said more will be released later.

Rachel asked whether the Haycraft is still doing events, noting she had stolen Jon's question. Everything through December 31 is a go, Nate said, and nothing is scheduled for 2027. Some moves and cancellations are likely for anyone who had booked past that date, and the conversation turned to other venues in the area, including the Brown-Pusey House for an outdoor setting, places in Vine Grove and Glendale, and Thurman Landing.

Nate called it six great years, and said it showed the people who put on events there can take them somewhere else. "When one door closes, one door opens," he said. "So I think it's going to be okay."

Twelve Ninja Gym is back

A reopening: Twelve Ninja Gym, which used to be in the mall, is coming back at E-town Comics, out near Rose's and Extreme. Nate talked with Maxwell Erickson a few days ago and said the team is excited.

The new space is smaller, Nate said, but nicely set up. It starts with monthly memberships at $50 a month that you can use as often as you like. Maxwell joked that 30 minutes in a ninja gym is like 90 minutes in a regular gym. They open Saturday, and parkour is planned for 2027, outside, which the mall never had.

Plenty to do

Nate closed on his favorite theme. "People say, well, there's nothing to do. Like, well, have you seen my list?" When he had family in a few weeks ago, he said, they did the four miniature golf courses, hung out at HubHaus and walked downtown to see Bourbon Barrel. "Etown's got the stuff if you just look."

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