The city of Bloomington recently asked for feedback on proposed new gateway designs—for the northern tip of Miller-Showers Park, and for the SR 45/46 bypass pedestrian bridge, near the Arlington Heights Elementary School.
The funding for the work, and the eventual construction, comes from the general obligation bonds that were issued in 2018 by the city of Bloomington and branded as “bicentennial bonds” in connection with the 200th anniversary of the city’s founding.
The total amount of those 2018 bonds was $10 million, split up into three different packages.
I can think of more practical ways to spend money than a gateway.
But if some of that money has to be spent on a gateway for people approaching Bloomington from the north, then at least one of the proposed designs makes sense. It looks like it’s basically an obelisk maybe 40–50 feet tall with “Bloomington” spelled out vertically.
Whatever its aesthetic merits, that design would give the hawks of Miller-Showers Park one more high place to perch, where they can look for tasty snacks, and it is easy for us to admire them.
The lead hawk photos for this column were taken in Miller-Showers Park—two of them last year, but one of them on Saturday (Jan. 7).
Below are more photos of Saturday’s hawks—they were a pair. A couple of the photos show that not every bird at Miller-Showers is a hawk.
As a bonus there’s some photos of a hawk perched on a wire on SR 446. That one flew off in a way that allowed for some good photos.
Photos: Hawks at Miller-Showers Park, SR 446 (Jan. 7, 2023)
“I can think of more practical ways to spend money than a gateway.”
Good point. Let’s not do it. If you want to see raptors put up a bird feeder. The song birds will come followed eventually by the occasional hawk.
Have to agree that there are more practical ways to help local residents with taxpayer money than monuments to someone’s ego.
If the administration is so concerned about the gateways into the city, maybe they should start by picking up all of the trash and cutting down weeds & dead trees. The two gateways mentioned, the 45/46 bypass and N. Walnut Street (north of the bypass), are a mess and have been for several years. In the case of the bypass, they could coordinate with the State to keep things cleaned up. As it stands now, the N. Walnut Street corridor is embarrassing.