The Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission says the city council should approve a local historic designation for Lower Cascades Park.
(WFIU/WTIU News)
This story has been updated.
The Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission says the city council should approve a local historic designation for Lower Cascades Park.
The body unanimously approved the recommendation at a meeting Thursday. The council must now vote on the designation.
Chris Sturbaum, a Bloomington resident who has advocated for the designation, said this will give the commission input on potential changes to the park. Sturbaum is also a former non-voting commission member.
“It puts the historic commission at the table for future changes to the park,” Sturbaum said. “We have to approve, with a certificate of appropriateness, new changes. So, if the road moves, if they dig into the hillside, the way they treat the creek — we’ll be a seat at the table and a voice for another part of the community.”
Chris Sturbaum at a July 2023 rally at Lower Cascades Park (Lucas González, WFIU/WTIU News)
Residents have been trying to acquire the designation for several months since former mayor John Hamilton announced plans last year to close about a half-mile of Old State Road 37, which runs through Lower Cascades, to drivers.
Hamilton planned to convert that part of the road into a biker-pedestrian trail connecting Lower Cascades to Miller-Showers Park and Griffy Lake Nature Preserve.
But a proposal never made it to the council before he left office at the end of 2023.
Residents have argued, among other things, that closing the road would limit access to the park — especially for mobility-restricted people.
On Thursday, former longtime public servant Charlotte Zietlow and resident Carole Canfield urged the commission to recommend the designation.
“It would be inaccessible to a lot of people, including, unfortunately, myself,” Zietlow said of Hamilton’s plan. “(The park) is a beauty that we can’t let go.”
Charlotte Zietlow at a Thursday commission meeting (Lucas González, WFIU/WTIU News)
Canfield, too, said she cannot access the foot by foot or on bike.
“This is an opportunity to preserve something that has been special to me my entire life,” Canfield said. “We’ve got to keep the road open so people like me, who can’t walk anymore, can enjoy the park.”
Carole Canfield at a Thursday commission meeting (Lucas González, WFIU/WTIU News)
Sturbaum said a local historic designation would not give the commission control over how the road is used but would let it provide input on how alterations might affect the park’s landscape.
“We do not control the use of the road, but making a case for the importance of the road and the history of the road and the history of that road gives the public another opportunity to speak about it,” he said. “The park is such a historic part of the city, and the road is even older than the city itself.”
The city parks department and residents are also trying to get Lower Cascades on the National Register of Historic Places, which Sturbaum said could make the park eligible for new funding and strengthen the local designation.
Mayor Kerry Thomson says she has not decided whether she’ll advance Hamilton’s plan and wants more information first.
“I know that we have a lot of residents who are passionate on both sides of that issue — close it or keep it open,” Thomson said. “My administration is not pushing for anything yet, but my administration will always be for listening to the people, discerning what’s best for the community based on that, and data, and then leading the way forward for a resolution.”
Kerry Thomson during a December 2023 interview with WFIU/WTIU News. (Lucas González, WFIU/WTIU News)
Lower Cascades is about 100 years old, making it Bloomington’s oldest park.
