The now vacant former Bloomington Convalescent Center at 714 S. Rogers will have entrances and windows boarded up in the next few days to secure it against intrusions.
The building, which is now owned by Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC), sits in the area of the planned new Hopewell neighborhood, near the site of the former IU Health hospital at 2nd and Rogers streets.
At its regular Monday meeting, the five-member RDC approved a $8,560 contract with Ann-Kriss, LLC to undertake several different tasks meant to secure the 714 S. Rogers building against break-ins.
Those tasks include: removing windows as needed; preserving the windows; securing ground floor entry points and window openings with “appropriate materials”; and cleaning up debris.
The RDC has been somehwat ambivalent about whether to demolish the building, at a cost of about $250,000, or to preserve it for possible sale to an interested developer. For now, the RDC has settled on not demolishing the building and spending what is needed to keep the building in reasonable condition.
At its previous meeting, the RDC approved a $39,816 contract with VET Environmental Engineering, to mediate water damage inside the building, caused by people who broke in and vandalized the sprinkler system.
For the entire Hopewell neighborhood, the RDC has authorized around $370,000 for private security patrols by Marshall Security.
At the Monday meeting, there was no report on the status of negotiations with hoteliers for the development of a boutique hotel in the Trades District. At the RDC’s previous meeting, John Fernandez, who is vice president of The Mill, which is overseeing Trades District development, had asked the RDC to put off a vote on a specific proposal, to give him time to negotiate further.
A specific proposal from a hotel developer could appear on the agenda for the next meeting of the RDC.
Due to scheduling conflicts for RDC members, the next meeting of Bloomington’s RDC is likely to be reset for April 22, instead of April 15, which is the date when it would ordinarily fall.
