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City council approves interlocal agreement for convention center project

By Lucas González

Posted February 29, 2024

The Monroe Convention Center. (Devan Ridgway, WTIU/WFIU News)

This article has been updated.

The Bloomington City Council has approved an interlocal agreement for the Monroe Convention Center expansion.

Council members accepted the document, which outlines the project’s plan, at a Wednesday meeting.

Only council member Kate Rosenbarger voted against the agreement. She questioned whether the convention center is the best use of food and beverage tax funds, which the project has been collecting on since 2018.

“Instead of trying to get people here on a short-term basis for a day or two, I think looking at getting more people into downtown permanently, is a really good solution for small businesses, to be able to stay open and make more money," Rosenbarger said.

Kate Rosenbarger *(Courtesy, Community Access Television Services)*

Rosenbarger cited the city’s most recent bi-annual community survey, which shows just 18 percent of residents consider the convention center expansion "essential or very important."

By comparison, residents considered city-wide high-speed fiber installation (68 percent essential or very important), developing the Hopewell neighborhood (65 percent) and developing the Trades District (62 percent) more critical than the convention center.

Rosenbarger suggested something akin to the Monon South Freedom Trail, a proposed 57-mile trail between Mitchell and the Clark/Floyd County border.

“Just thinking about something that brings economic dollars and tourism to Bloomington that is equitable, healthy, and benefits the people already living here — like the Monon Trail — would be an awesome thing to connect to,” Rosenbarger said.

Council member Hopi Stosberg said she agreed with Rosenbarger’s concerns but thinks the project is already too far along.

“There are deadlines to do with when this money has to be spent, and I think that it's not practical to think about steering the boat in the new direction at this point," Stosberg said.

Hopi Stosberg (*Courtesy, Community Access Television Services)*

The state legislature passed a law last year requiring the county to report distributions and expenditures to the state annually.

It says the city's share of food and beverage tax revenues must be used to finance a convention center, conference center or related tourism or economic development projects.

It also requires Monroe County and Bloomington to spend money collected by the tax before July 1, 2025, and to develop a written plan before Dec. 1 of each year for the use of tax revenues.

Other city council members acknowledged both Rosenbarger's and Stosberg's comments and said they want the project built in a way that limits over-reliance on cars to reduce the city’s carbon footprint.

The county council and county commissioners both approved the interlocal earlier this month.

It now goes to the mayor’s office for final approval.