Residents attend a meeting Thursday at Christian Science Church to discuss establishing historic protections for Green Acres.
(Lucas González, WFIU/WTIU News)
Residents of Bloomington’s Green Acres are seeking historic protections for the neighborhood in response to a threat of five homes being demolished.
Neighbors met Thursday night at Christian Science Church for one of three public meetings required as part of the process to establish what’s called a conservation district.
If established, the district would require anyone wanting to demolish, move, or build a new home in the neighborhood to first gain approval from the Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission.
That commission must eventually decide whether to recommend demolition for the five homes on Jefferson and Seven streets. It has until Aug. 14 to decide, so neighbors are trying to nominate a district as soon as possible.
Lois Sabo-Skelton, chair of the Green Acres Designation Committee, described the neighborhood as a peaceful sanctuary long-time residents cherish and wish to preserve.
“The bulldozers are lined up and ready to crush down the small, cherished homes surrounded by greenery so needed for our families today and replace (them) with concrete and perhaps a complimentary tree,” Sabo-Skelton told meeting attendees. “I do become speechless when I think about that.”
Sable Beyers with Beyers Realty is trying to sell the homes, and a potential purchase depends on being able to tear them down.
Beyers said her prospective buyer is considering building student housing in their place but hasn’t finalized plans. Residents worry the homes will be replaced by buildings that don’t fit with the neighborhood’s character.
Green Acres resident Marines Fornerino said the effort to establish a conservation district is about preserving history, first and foremost.
“When I see that some historic homes could be demolished, it just breaks my heart, personally; but also, we as a city, a state and a nation will be losing a piece of history,” Fornerino said.
Fornerino, who studied public policy, said she researched Green Acres’ history and discovered most of the homes there were built in the era immediately following World War II.
“Most of the houses here were built as part of those policies, and you can see how the world adapted and changed with the availability of material, and also the economy being better, and less pressure that we had on having housing,” she said. “When you read about all the troops coming back home, there was a huge shortage of housing, and that affected us like everybody else.”
Fornerino and others believe the neighborhood has enough historic integrity that it should be nominated for a conservation district.
Also joining the effort is Chris Sturbaum, a former member of both the Historic Preservation Commission and the Bloomington City Council. Sturbaum called the neighborhood a snapshot of post-war American history and an embodiment of the American dream.
“People came home from the war, they had seen all kinds of horror,” Sturbaum said. “They wanted a simple life. They wanted a yard, they wanted a house. And the government was trying to provide that for them.”
Chris Sturbaum (Lucas González, WFIU/WTIU News)
Sturbaum said this issue is personal to him because his father relied on the G.I. Bill for his education and his wife grew up in Green Acres.
“It was just a beautiful, optimistic time; the country was optimistic, and it reflects in these buildings and structures,” he said. “We come down to it: Why do we love this place? But also, how do we save this place? That begs the question: Is it historic? And I suggest that it absolutely is.”
The group must now hold two more meetings to gather community input, produce a map, and propose a district for the commission to vote on. The group is currently basing its map on one with suggested boundaries shared by Historic Preservation Program Manager Noah Sandweiss last month.
MAP KEY: Blue = Outstanding, Green = Notable, Orange = Contributing, Red or Unmarked = Non-contributing (Courtesy, City of Bloomington)
Two more public meetings are scheduled. They’ll take place at 1 p.m. on July 20 and 27, also at Christian Science Church.
Even if the Historic Preservation Commission approves the group’s district nomination, the Bloomington City Council has the final vote on establishing the district.
