Bloomington city council members at a Dec. 13 meeting in city hall.
(Lucas González, WFIU/WTIU News)
This story has been updated.
The Bloomington City Council has rejected the sale of the downtown police station following recent controversy surrounding its legality and ethics.
Council members voted unanimously against the measure Wednesday, further complicating Mayor John Hamilton’s plan to move the police department to the western part of city hall.
The city had planned to pay for the project in part with proceeds from the station’s sale.
The council’s vote follows a decision by the Bloomington Board of Public Works to not endorse any of three purchase offers for the station. The board offered no recommendation to the council on how to proceed.
The project to relocate police has been controversial since its inception, but the station’s sale garnered new backlash after relatives of the original owners of the land it sits on spoke out against it.
Last month, Philip Hill — one of the heirs — wrote a letter to Hamilton saying that selling the land to a private developer would breach the deed. Hamilton has been trying to do just that.
On Wednesday, he urged the council to reject the sale.
“The spirit and intent (of the deed) are clear: this is to be a public real estate holding,” Hill said. “We believe that should continue. We don’t believe that it’s right for the public to be denied use of this real estate and instead transferred to a private party for private profit.”
Philip Hill (Courtesy of Community Access Television Services)
The land's original owners sold it to the city in the 1920s to be used as a public park. It became Third Street Park and was later renamed the Waldron Hill and Buskirk Park.
The deed states if the city or any other entity that assumes ownership fails to maintain the land as a park, the property shall revert to the original owners’ heirs.
The issue is complicated by the fact that, in the 1960s, the city used the land to build the old city hall. That building later became the current police station.
It’s unclear if the city received the blessing of the previous owner’s heirs to use the land for anything other than a park.
“In all honesty, we weren’t very pleased when it became a city hall and then a city police station, but it was used for public use,” Hill said. “If it wasn’t a park, maybe a police station is okay.”
Philip’s brother, Nat Hill IV, also spoke out against the sale.
"We don't believe the sale of the park is legal, is in any way keeping in the spirit in which the transaction was put together, and certainly not an advisable thing to do to promote future giving," Nat Hill said.
Nat Hill IV (Lucas Gonzalez, WFIU/WTIU News)
Hamilton says the city investigated the deed restriction a year ago and determined it could sell the property.
“From my perspective, a year ago, the question was, 'Do we have the right to sell this property?' Legal investigated and said yes," Hamilton said. “I didn’t see the deed at that time; I didn’t look to see the deed at that time.”
John Hamilton (Courtesy of Community Access Television Services)
Larry Allen, Hamilton’s interim deputy mayor, said the city also determined the reversionary clause in the deed has expired at this point.
Additionally, Allen said the deed specifies the land shall be used for a free public park, and that hasn’t been the case for several decades.
“There’s no question that for more than 50 years ago, this area that has been used as a police station has not been used for a free public park — and that has not been challenged,” Allen said.
Larry Allen (Courtesy of Community Access Television Services)
Allen said the council’s vote will delay work on a fire station and fire training center, both of which were included in council-approved bonding of public safety projects such as the police relocation.
It does not, however, preclude the city from selling the station in the future. Any future action will depend on the next mayor and city council, who start in 2024.
Mayor-elect Kerry Thomson, who attended the council meeting virtually, called for a delay on the sale but did not rule out the possibility of selling the property in the future.
Thomson has said the city should not abandon the police relocation project, although she still has questions about its financial implications.
