City workers are busy spreading salt and plowing snow, the county bicentennial kicked off Sunday, construction of IU Health Bloomington Hospital is underway and why some say the Griffy Nature Preserve deer cull is a failure.
On this week's installment of Ask The Mayor, Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton addresses these issues and more. Listen to the full conversation with Indiana Newsdesk anchor Joe Hren by clicking on the play button above, or read some of the questions and answers below. A portion of this segment airs 6:45 and 8:45 a.m. Wednesday on WFIU.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Hren: Monroe County, Bloomington Bicentennial Opening Ceremonies was Sunday, a nice kickoff to the yearlong celebration. You spoke on perspective, why is that important?
Hamilton: It's ten generations. You could get back to a founder within just one person in between. An older person today would have known somebody who themselves knew somebody who was at the founding. So with three lifetimes, you can get back there. But it's changed a lot in 200 years. But what a ceremony to remember what it took to bring us here today and our obligation to pay it forward.
Hren: More big news Tuesday with the groundbreaking of IU Health Bloomington Hospital. You were there and spoke, it was a huge ceremony and for good reason.
Hamilton: I said, that's the biggest single economic development project in our history. The collaboration is very important between Indiana University and IU Health. The fact they're building together a regional academic health center is very exciting for our future. It's a $400 million project, meaning lots of jobs. But it's a lot more than that, it's about health and community wellness.
You do a hospital once a century. The first hospital was 1905. This is a big step for the community.
Hren: The current hospital site re-utilization has taken a big swing thanks to the impending purchase of the property by the city… you mention opportunities for the public to have a say what goes there, why?
Hamilton: We've never had a plot of land, 24 acres, that's available to develop. So we need to think about what our future calls for. Our community is great because of a lot of the decisions our public has made. We do depend on private investors, but the overall design depends a lot on public interest. How dense, how tall, what kind of mix of housing do we want.
I hope this area will make us think about a new neighborhood, a new hub in the heart of downtown that will mix the kinds of people, the kinds of activities and that's a big public dialogue.
Hren: I think something that hasn't been talked about is many of those buildings are being leased by medical professionals, not owned by IU Health. Is there worry that all those medical businesses will move out leaving a big void of retail space there too?
Hamilton: The IU Health footprint is surrounded by another 25 acres of privately owned medically zoned buildings. We do expect that will evolve and change as the hospital relocates. It's pretty complex to look at how that will work together but we got a lot of smart people thinking about it and I don't doubt we'll have a lot of interesting discussions.
Hren: In a letter to the editor of the Herald-Times, a writer said the Griffy Nature Preserve deer cull failed because only 60 deer were removed rather than the recommended 100 indicating there isn't an overpopulation of deer. Do you think the cull failed?
Hamilton: There'll be an official report I think next week. My approach as mayor is that it's publicly owned land and our obligation is to do what the science tells us to do to preserve the nature. The hundred number was a maximum number, it was never a goal of getting to a hundred. We had to set a number for the contract. My perception is that it was a successful enterprise, not something anyone likes doing, but an obligation to protect that nature preserve.
