Bloomington's historic Princess Theatre featuers a terra cotta tiled facade. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
(Courtesy of Dave Askins)
The tiled façade of the historic Princess Theatre in downtown Bloomington is a beautiful reminder of a bygone era. But one listener believes the top portion of the façade is leaning and may potentially be unsafe. Is it?
The Princess Theatre opened in the summer of 1913, offering talkies and silent films of the day in a 400-seat auditorium, according to the Monroe County History Center. Jazz musician Hoagy Carmichael’s mother reportedly provided piano accompaniment to some of those silent films.
In 1983, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Locals refer to its terra cotta tile façade as “iconic” and “remarkable.”
The Princess Theatre has had multiple owners over the years who have done numerous renovations, including a project to create apartments and retail space after a 1985 fire collapsed the auditorium.
The terra cotta façade has endured, though it now has a more weathered look -- some tiles are cracked, some grout is missing. And to some eyes, the curvy top portion now leans forward a bit. Someone at some point installed metal wiring across the top, apparently as a precaution.
The top of the facade close up. (Courtesy photo)
Property owner David Howard of DG&D Properties, LLC, is confident the top portion of the façade is safe, though he does not acknowledge any lean.
“So there's steel anchors that have been set -- those are all intact,” he said. “What you do see from the face that looks alarming is the cracks. And there is one block that I would say does need some attention.”
A recent order from the City of Bloomington’s Housing and Neighborhood Development department, or HAND, is directing Howard to have the façade evaluated by a design professional. It also requires repairs be completed in accordance with that evaluation within 60 days.
The historic façade is protected by what’s referred to as a preservation easement. The easement has been held by Bloomington Restorations, Inc. since 1985 and any repairs or renovations must be approved by the organization. BRI Executive Director Steve Wyatt calls the façade remarkable.
“It's the only terracotta tile building in Bloomington downtown, so it really stands out as something different, something unusual, something beautiful that's worth preserving.”
A preservation easement is not like the more common “use easements.” Wyatt said it provides protection for historic structures in the face of repairs, renovations or demolitions while also providing a tax benefit for property owners. The money property owners save through a tax credit can help with restoration projects, Wyatt said.
Wyatt said no one has expressed concerns to him about the Princess Theatre façade but he’s aware of the HAND repair order.
Until the evaluation is complete, we won’t know if it’s truly unsafe or what repairs will be required.
Howard already planned some repairs to the structure before the HAND order was issued, including a new restaurant sign and new lighting. He’s not crazy about the additional expense of hiring a structural engineer to evaluate the façade of what he points out is an old building.
“It needs a lot of work -- nobody's really done repairs like they should have on any of that building,” he said. “I've been the contractor doing everything in that building for the last six years because we were the contractor for Alchemy, the bar before that, and the previous owner. So there's been a considerable amount of money and work put into that building to make it what it is.”
Howard said he personally laid out a lot of money to keep the building --- with its three apartments and his restaurant, the Village Pub -- going during the pandemic. He bought out his partners who wanted to sell the building and get new tenants. He has renovated one of the apartments into an Airbnb and plans similar conversions for the other two apartments.
“We barely made it through the COVID aspects and we're one of the few restaurants that were able to make it,” he said. “And then coming out of it, we're getting hit with this restoration thing.”
The Village Pub hasn’t fully rebounded from the pandemic – it’s seeing less than half its pre-pandemic business, according to Howard. He has plans to make it more of a music venue.
“But we're just trying to make it revitalized a little bit to try and bring in more people,” he said.
What to do if you want to relay concerns about the safety of a building
John Zody, director for the City of Bloomington’s Housing and Neighborhood Development department, said neighborhood compliance officers routinely investigate compliance issues in their assigned areas.
“If we get that complaint or concern saying ‘I’m afraid this can be compromised’ or whatever, we’ll go check it out and make a determination,” he said. “We may get ahold of the owner to ask more questions. If we can see from the outset that it's unsafe or there's a noticeable issue, then we can send a notice to the owner and ask them to get back with us within a certain period of time -- all that's laid out in the law. Or, we can move straight to an order.”
Orders can request an owner to repair, remove, or seal a structure.
The City of Bloomington offers its uReport portal as a way for residents to report a variety of issues across a range of categories from sewer and sanitation, to city parks, to traffic and parking. The portal also contains a Hazards link to report structural safety concerns.
