Tag: IU Health hospital

Bloomington’s state of city: Thomson covers housing, homelessness, police, parks, eclipse, and more

Demonstrators held signs outside the Buskirk-Chumley Theater before Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson’s State of the City Address. (April 9, 2024))
Buskirk-Chumley Theater marquee heralding the State of the City address. (April 9, 2024))
Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson delivers her State of the City address. (April 9, 2024)

On Tuesday evening, at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on Kirkwood Avenue, Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson delivered 25 minutes worth of remarks billed as the State of the City address.

The timing for the event was keyed to the 100-day mark since Thomson’s swearing in as Bloomington’s new mayor, on Jan. 1. Towards the start of her remarks, Thomson stated: “This is my 100th day in office.”

It was the first of a half dozen applause lines on the night.

Outside the Buskirk-Chumley, before Thomson’s address started, around two dozen demonstrators stood with signs in support of the city council’s resolution, approved unanimously last week,  asking national leaders to work towards a ceasefire in Gaza, to allow for delivery of humanitarian aid. Their signs read: “Don’t veto peace.” Continue reading “Bloomington’s state of city: Thomson covers housing, homelessness, police, parks, eclipse, and more” →

Redevelopment notebook: Bloomington OKs $8.5K to seal building, no word yet on Trades District hotel

714 S. Rogers St. looking south from 1st Street (March 4, 2024)
714 S. Rogers is at the eastern (right) edge of the blue-shaded area.
Buildings shaded in green are authorized for demolition. The building shaded orange is 615 1st Street and would need to be reviewed by the historic preservation commission before demolition. The building shaded red is 714 S. Rogers St.

The now vacant former Bloomington Convalescent Center at 714 S. Rogers will have entrances and windows boarded up in the next few days to secure it against intrusions.

The building, which is now owned by Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC), sits in the area of the planned new Hopewell neighborhood, near the site of the former IU Health hospital at 2nd and Rogers streets.

At its regular Monday meeting, the five-member RDC approved a $8,560 contract with Ann-Kriss, LLC to undertake several different tasks meant to secure the 714 S. Rogers building against break-ins.

Those tasks include: removing windows as needed; preserving the windows; securing ground floor entry points and window openings with “appropriate materials”; and cleaning up debris. Continue reading “Redevelopment notebook: Bloomington OKs $8.5K to seal building, no word yet on Trades District hotel” →

Bloomington city council OKs convention center interlocal accord, but not unanimously

Bloomington city councilmember Kate Rosenbarger.
Monroe County capital improvement board president John Whikehart.
Downtown Bloomington, Inc. executive director Talisha Coppock.
Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson.
Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce director of advocacy Christopher Emge.
Bloomington corporation counsel Margie Rice.

The governance structure for the expansion of the Monroe Convention center, which currently stands at 3rd Street and College Avenue, is now settled.

On Wednesday night, Bloomington’s city council approved its side of a four-way interlocal agreement about the way the Monroe County capital improvement board (CIB) will interact with other local units, to handle the convention center expansion project.

The vote on the nine-member city council was 7–1. Dissenting was Kate Rosenbarger.

The tally does not add to 9, because the District 5 seat is currently vacant, pending the selection of a replacement at Saturday’s (March 2) vacancy caucus to be held by the Democratic Party.

Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson attended Wednesday’s meeting, but did not address the council. After the council’s vote, Thomson responded to a B Square question by saying she would be signing the agreement as soon as it is presented to her.

The city council’s approval came after the Monroe County commissioners approved the agreement last week,  and the county council adopted it the week before. Continue reading “Bloomington city council OKs convention center interlocal accord, but not unanimously” →

Bloomington OKs extra cost of asbestos removal for Hopewell demolition, work set to start Friday

Google Street View looking southeast of 615 1st Street.
Buildings shaded in green are authorized for demolition. The building shaded orange is 615 1st Street and would need to be reviewed by the historic preservation commission before demolition. The building shaded red is 714 S. Rogers St.
Area to be demolished as shown in the Hopewell neighborhood master plan. https://bloomingtonhospitalsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021.01.13_BHRU-Reuse-Master-Plan-2-pg-per-screen.pdf#page=33

At its Monday meeting, Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC) approved a $12,100 bump to the previously approved $353,052 contract with Renascent for the demolition of 10 buildings on the south side of 1st Street.

The demolition work, which is supposed to start Friday (Feb. 9) according to a city of Bloomington news release, is intended to make a clean slate for developers who want to respond to a public offering of  the property as part of the planned new Hopewell neighborhood.

The area with the buildings to be demolished is just part of the Hopewell land, which includes the former site of the IU Health hospital. Bloomington’s RDC bought the property for $6.5 million, in a deal that finally closed late last year.

It’s still an open question whether all 10 buildings will be demolished, because one of them is still under review by the city’s historic preservation commission (HPC). The house in question  is at 615 W. 1st Street, which is described in the HPC’s Jan. 25 meeting information packet as “a highly intact California style bungalow,” which was built in the 1920s. Continue reading “Bloomington OKs extra cost of asbestos removal for Hopewell demolition, work set to start Friday” →

Column: Staring into the civic sun in 2024, the year of a solar eclipse

This image was generated by Microsoft’s Bing Image Creator (powered by DALL·E 3).

In 2024, the local civic cosmos could see some big changes, in the same year when a rare literal cosmic event will unfold.

On April 8, a solar eclipse will briefly cast a shadow directly over the Bloomington area, turning daylight into gloam. (Yes, that is an awfully fancy word for “twilight,” but it’s the kind of highfalutin fare that is customary for a newspaper year-in-preview column.)

During an eclipse, in the battle between dark and light across the visible disk of the sun, the dark begins with a steady assimilation of the light’s territory, but the light always reverses the trend and prevails in the end.

That’s either a great or a lousy metaphor for municipal annexation, depending on a person’s political perspective.

In fall of 2021, Bloomington’s city council approved the annexation of seven different territories, all of which are still the subject of litigation.

Metaphors aside, 2024 holds the potential for some court decisions on those pending annexations, which might settle the question of how much Bloomington’s boundaries will change.

Of course, annexation is just one of myriad civic issues that are in the queue for Bloomington and Monroe County in 2024.

Here’s a non-exhaustive rundown of topics The B Square will try to track in the coming year. Continue reading “Column: Staring into the civic sun in 2024, the year of a solar eclipse” →

$82.5K OK’d to get help naming new Bloomington neighborhood: “Hospital Redevelopment Site doesn’t really roll off the tongue.”

The image is from the master plan for the redevelopment of the Hopewell site, which is the former site of the IU Health hospital. The view is from the southwest.

The new Bloomington neighborhood, which is to be developed on the site of the IU Health hospital, will get a name of its own.

That’s among the tasks the city’s redevelopment commission (RDC) wants Borshoff, an Indianapolis public relations firm, to help complete.

At Monday’s regular RDC meeting, commissioners approved an amendment to the review and approval form for the nearly $13-million redevelopment project, so that it now includes a $82,500 contract with Borshoff.

The firm is supposed to facilitate public engagement on the naming of the neighborhood, according to Bloomington’s director of economic and sustainable development, Alex Crowley.

About the need for a neighborhood name, Crowley said, “Hospital Redevelopment Site doesn’t really roll off the tongue.” He added, “I’m not sure that would make a nice road sign.”

The hospital property at 2nd and Rogers streets will be turned over to Bloomington by IU Health as part of a $6.5 million real estate deal. Except for the parking deck and the administration building, the structures on  the site are to be demolished by IU Health. Continue reading “$82.5K OK’d to get help naming new Bloomington neighborhood: “Hospital Redevelopment Site doesn’t really roll off the tongue.”” →

Bloomington redevelopment commission rounds out hospital site with $350K purchase at 2nd & Rogers

bordered Low Res R Map Rogers parcel on hospital siteYYYxxxx
bordered High Res R Map Rogers parcel on hospital siteYYYxxxx
This aerial image of the parcel on the southeast corner of 2nd and Rogers streets, dated April 2020, is from the Pictometry module of Monroe County’s online property lookup system.

At its regular Monday meeting, Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC) voted unanimously to buy a vacant lot at the southeast corner of Rogers and 2nd streets for not more than $350,000.

Economic and sustainable development director Alex Crowley told RDC members the lot was not owned by IU Health, and would not be a part of the $6.5 million deal to transfer the hospital site to the city of Bloomington in 2021. That’s when IU Health moves to its new facility on the SR 45/46 bypass.

The parcel’s owner since 1900 has been C & S, Inc. according to Monroe County’s online property records.

The idea, Crowley said, is to “round out” the block of land the city will be acquiring with the IU Health land deal.

That brings the total price tag for the RDC’s hospital redevelopment project to $13 million. Continue reading “Bloomington redevelopment commission rounds out hospital site with $350K purchase at 2nd & Rogers” →