Kirkwood Avenue stretches eight blocks linking Blooomington's downtown courthouse to Indiana University's Sample Gates. A metaphor, perhaps, of two entities that make-up the city's heart and soul.
The area is almost always a bustle of activity from eclectic restaurants, shops and businesses. It hosts most of Bloomington's night life. But as the city continues to grow, so do the developments on this stretch of land that some worry, is losing what made it unique to begin with.
A Bird's-eye View
Lee Ann Merry moved to Kirkwood Avenue a year ago seeking a life style change.
"My friends would say, what are you doing, where are you going, are you leaving and I said no. I'm moving downtown and they would ask why, I said because I can. I want to try it. I've always loved big cities. I love the energy of the people," she says.
Merry says she loves having everything just a few blocks away, including her job.
"[Whether] we're going too fast, it's a matter of opinion. Mine is we're not, and I have a bird's-eye view of it," Merry says.
A scenario Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan says is becoming typical.
"When people return to Bloomington, if you've ever been here that's where they go. That's home," Kruzan says. "I've talked about our uniqueness - the character of Bloomington, is a marketable commodity. It's that quality of life that synonymous with economic vitality."
Some buildings still hint that at one time, it was like any other downtown street. Homes converted into store front shops.
But now, new high rises and hotels are filling in downtown ranking Bloomington the seventh largest city in the state. Mayor Kruzan and city officials are learning how to deal with change without losing what they say makes Bloomington, Bloomington.
"It's the old adage, bigger isn't necessarily better, and Kirkwood is going to change. The property values with the new ownership of all those buildings, it's clearly going to change," he says.
Building Proposals
The latest proposals are three large scale developments on land owned by Old National Bank.
The parcels make up almost an entire block between Kirkwood and Fourth Street across from First Christian Church and the Monroe County Public Library.
The proposals include:
1. A six-story, 150-room hotel called "The Graduate" with retail and meeting space along with a 74-car garage.
2. A three-story retail bank branch with drive-through that would house Old National Bank's Bloomington office headquarters and seven town-home units.
3. A four-story mixed-use development with a restaurant, retail shops and apartments along with an 84-car garage.
"Then we were dealing with one developer and all these properties were under that umbrella, it made sense to evaluate them together rather than separately because we wanted to gauge the total impact," says Tom Micuda, Director of Planning and Transportation for the City of Bloomington.
Three large downtown church congregations worry they'll have nowhere to park and voiced their concern at the first planning commission meeting.
For years, Old National Bank properties allowed church-goers to park on their surface lots. But Kruzan says it was never the city's parking to begin with.
"What is needed is public parking in the downtown area, and as I said going back 16 to 18 months is that eventually meter revenue as we've paid for the meters themselves, one of the many things it could go into is to establish additional public parking downtown," Kruzan says.
Besides parking, Kruzan became worried that chain restaurants and businesses will diminish what makes Bloomington unique. So he tried to ban them from downtown. City council compromised and approved an ordinance that set up a review process for "chain" businesses trying to move into downtown. So the chain stores can move in, they just have to have a distinct look from any other community in the country.
"That was what most of the opponents to my proposal said was the balance hasn't tipped. I just don't understand why we would wait until it tips before we step in," he says.
Keeping The City Unique
"As our city gets bigger, our market becomes more enticing for a wide variety of reasons. That's to be expected," Micuda says. "Will that detract or add to the community? The ordinance is a balance – so you have that service but with design you get something distinct."
But is that enough to keep the character of Kirkwood Avenue unique?
Developments such as these won't be the last to build downtown. Micuda says national trends show whether its millennials or seniors, people like to live close to services which means more interest in developing downtown.
"So this is normal, this is expected, but it is change and change is challenging and that's the process we're going through right now," Micuda says.
The next planning commission meeting is Dec. 8. If the commission approves changes to the development made since their last meeting, then it's up to city council to approve the removal of two public right-of-ways for the developments to move forward.
