The City of Bloomington housing and neighborhood development department first issued an unsafe order for the Johnson's Creamery smokestack in January. After receiving an updated engineering report in March, staff ordered the property owner reduce the smokestack to 60 feet.
(Courtesy photo)
The Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) considered a certificate of appropriateness (COA) regarding the Johnson’s Creamery smokestack Thursday. However, a voting error caused the commission to delay action.
Property owner Peerless Development brought the petition to the HPC. It would authorize partial demolition of the smokestack down to 60 feet, which is in line with the city’s unsafe order issued March 11.
Why is the recommended height 60 feet?
Based on an engineering assessment released in March, the smokestack cannot be repaired fully while remaining intact.
“The foundation would sort of have to be dug out and restabilized and redone,” Housing and Neighborhood Development Director John Zody said. “What would be built back is not a stack that looks much like what you would see now.”
He said the masonry and design of the stack did not meet current building codes, and it would have to be rebuilt with modern-type structures.
The original Johnson Creamery building was built in 1914. The creamery and iconic smokestack were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. The building was remodeled in 1995 to become the Johnson Creamery Business Center. (Devan Ridgway, WFIU/WTIU News)
Why is the historic preservation commission involved?
Given that city council delayed designating the creamery a historic district Wednesday, the commission’s COA for partial demolition would only be authorized if council voted in favor of the designation in the future.
However, the main point of contention during Thursday’s meeting was whether the historic preservation commission, by way of city staff recommendation, could legally require Peerless to propose and install commemorative artwork following the demolition.
Christine Bartlett, an attorney representing Peerless, said such a condition attached to the COA was not in the historic preservation commission’s authority.
“We think this goes too far,” she said. “We think this goes beyond what you all can do.”
Assistant city attorney Daniel Dixon said the city believes the commission has the power to attach conditions to the COA. However, Peerless owner Michael Cordaro does not think the company should assume the cost of the art instillation.
“We don’t mind the idea of memorializing the smokestack,” Cordaro said. “We take significant issue with the idea that we are going to be forced to pay for this memorialization.”
He said Peerless was open to working with the city on an easement to install its own art instillation.
“We were told this has to cost at least $100,000-$150,000 at a minimum,” he said. “We don’t have the money to do that. We don’t have the money to spend $350,000 to demolish this. This was not in our budget.”
Several commissioners pushed back on the complaints by saying that Peerless purchased the property knowing the structure needed repairs.
Why is the smokestack deteriorating?
Non-voting commissioner Duncan Campbell was involved in repairing the smokestack almost 30 years ago. He said it continued to deteriorate over time.
“Smokestacks deteriorate, especially masonry ones, because they burn coal in them, and sulfur dioxide infiltrates the acidic sensitives in the structure and they slowly deteriorate,” Campbell said. “Remember, this is the second stack for the Johnson Creamery-the first one deteriorated and was torn down.”
He said the addition of AT&T equipment didn’t help.
“They have added hundreds and hundreds of pounds of weight and if you notice, its leaning in the direction most of their weight was first placed,” Campbell said.
Greg Alexander spoke during public comment in support of a full demolition of the structure. He said the practical reward of historic designation is to preserve a building.
“Nothing happens in a smokestack,” he said. “All it’s good for is looking at or holding up a cellphone tower.”
He said the smokestack will lose its aesthetic value if reduced to 60 feet.
“It doesn’t need to be commemorated,” he said. “It’s just a burden on a petitioner that’s attempting to build housing. And right now, it’s also a burden on people who are using the B-Line.”
View looking up the smokestack from the southeast side. (Courtesy: City of Bloomington/Arsee Engineers)
What happened during the vote?
When it came time to vote, commissioner Matthew Seddon made a motion to approve the COA without city staff’s recommended artwork requirements. All six voting members present voted in favor of the motion, despite conflicting opinions throughout discussion.
However, commissioners Marleen Newman and Reynard Cross later said they did not understand the details. Both members thought the motion included the requirement for the artwork proposal.
By the time the mistake was caught, commissioner Elizabeth Mitchell and representatives from Peerless had left the meeting. The remaining five members unanimously voted to bring the legislation back for a second vote but adjourned the meeting to next Thursday.
What’s next?
A similar process happens next week.
City Council will consider the property for historic district status again at 6:30 p.m. next Wednesday. The historic preservation commission will meet to discuss and vote on the same COA at 5 p.m. next Thursday.
