$30K awarded for Bloomington neighborhood improvement projects
At its regular Monday meeting, Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC) approved a total of $30,000 worth of neighborhood improvement grants to help fund four different neighborhood projects.
Here’s the breakdown of projects awarded funding, sorted from largest to smallest.
| Neighborhood | Project | Amount Awarded |
| Prospect Hill Neighborhood Association | to hire restoration professionals to repair Rose Hill Cemetery headstones and monuments too difficult/fragile/large for volunteers to handle. | $12,750.00 |
| Park Ridge East Neighborhood Association | to refurbish their two neighborhood entrance signs and associated landscaping. Their proposal included repairing limestone pillars and lighting. | $8,500.00 |
| Woodlands-Winding Brook HOA | for the second phase of a project to convert an inoperable retention pond into a bioretention area, to include stormwater mitigation features, native plantings, and community gathering spaces. | $7,400.00 |
| Rockport Hills Neighbors | to refurbish their neighborhood entrance sign and install native landscaping. | $1,350.00 |
| Grand Total | $30,000.00 |
Giving the grant award presentation to the RDC at Monday’s meeting was Angela Van Rooy, who is the HAND (housing and neighborhood development) department’s neighborhood services program manager.
Van Rooy led off by thanking the members of the neighborhood improvement grant council for their work in reviewing the four applications this year. Members were: John West, who serves on the RDC; Christina Smith from the department of public works; Maria McCormick from the engineering department; Bram Boyd of the Grandview Hills Neighborhood Association; and Sue Tuohy from the Crescent Bend Neighborhood Association.
Van Rooy noted that the cost of the projects is greater than the awards—highlighting the request from the Woodlands-Winding Brook HOA, which had an estimated cost of $85,000. The funding request had been for $50,000, even though the total grant amount was advertised at $30,000, Van Rooy said.
Van Rooy told RDC members that the $7,4000 award for the Woodlands-Winding Brook HOA detention pond project had been made contingent on the neighborhood being able to demonstrate that they could raise the rest of money to get the project done.
RDC member Sue Sgambelluri asked how the availability of the grants was publicized. Sgambelluri encouraged Van Rooy to use city councilmembers to help promote the availability of the grants. About city council members, Sgambelluri said “To varying degrees they are in touch with their constituents, but use them.”
Van Rooy said that some neighborhoods that are perennial awardees, have public amenities that lend themselves to grant awards. As an example, she gave Prospect Hill, which has in the past received awards for refurbishing tombstones in the Rose Hill Cemetery, similar to the grant that Prospect Hill received this year.
Another example cited by Van Rooy was Park Ridge East, which has applied for grants in the past for work on their neighborhood park.
Van Rooy said for some neighborhoods it is hard to come up with an idea for a capital project to do.
| Neighborhood | Year | Project | Award |
| Prospect Hill Neighborhood Association | 2020 | for Rose Hill Cemetery Improvements 2020 | $6,780.00 |
| 2021 | to place seven way finding signs in the Rose Hill Cemetery. This is the continuation of a grant request that was partially funded in 2020. | $4,410.00 | |
| 2022 | for 20 street sign toppers, a kiosk in Building Trades Park, and signage in Rose Hill Cemetery. | $6,551.74 | |
| 2023 | to hire restoration professionals to repair Rose Hill Cemetery headstones and monuments too difficult/fragile/large for volunteers to handle. In addition, restoration professionals offered a 3-hour public workshop to teach headstone restoration techniques and skills. | $12,590.00 | |
| 2024 | to hire restoration professionals to repair Rose Hill Cemetery headstones and monuments too difficult/fragile/large for volunteers to handle. | $12,750.00 | |
| Woodlands-Winding Brook HOA | 2021 | Awarded to place new neighborhood signs on either side of their neighborhood entrance. Their previous signs were removed when the City constructed a new walking path in the area. | $4,254.60 |
| 2023 | for the first phase of a project to convert an inoperable retention pond into a bioretention area, to include storm water mitigation features, native plantings, and community gathering spaces. | $11,000.00 | |
| 2024 | for the second phase of a project to convert an inoperable retention pond into a bioretention area, to include stormwater mitigation features, native plantings, and community gathering spaces. | $7,400.00 | |
| Bloomington Housing Authority Resident Council | 2020 | for “Community Engagement and Back-to-School Resource Fair” | $4,532.74 |
| 2021 | to place additional trash cans, cigarette butt disposal cans, and pet waste stations throughout the three Bloomington Housing Authority properties (Rev. Butler, Crestmont, and Walnut Woods). | $5,019.16 | |
| 2023 | to refurbish two playgrounds, in the Rev. Butler and Walnut Woods communities. | $6,410.00 | |
| Park Ridge East Neighborhood Association | 2020 | for “Creekside Gardens and Paths—Park Ridge East Park Restoration Phase 2” | $3,488.00 |
| 2024 | to refurbish their two neighborhood entrance signs and associated landscaping. Their proposal included repairing limestone pillars and lighting. | $8,500.00 | |
| Arden Place Neighborhood Association | 2022 | to install stand-alone outdoor fitness equipment in Southeast Park. Equipment will be accessible to individuals of differing ages and fitness levels. | $9,000.00 |
| Blue Ridge Neighborhood Association | 2022 | to repair eight decorative wrought iron panels, located at the two neighborhood entrances on North Dunn Street. | $6,000.00 |
| St. James Woods Neighborhood Association | 2021 | to revitalize the landscaping on a City-owned parcel at the entrance to their neighborhood along E Moores Pike. | $5,491.79 |
| Village of Ridgefield Homeowners Association | 2021 | to place four ADA-compliant benches along the sidewalks within their neighborhood. | $3,973.85 |
| Near West Side Neighborhood Association | 2021 | to paint murals on the five traffic calming circles within the neighborhood. The theme of the murals will celebrate the diverse history of the Near West Side. | $2,743.00 |
| Rockport Hills Neighbors | 2024 | to refurbish their neighborhood entrance sign and install native landscaping. | $1,350.00 |
| EverGreen Village Neighborhood | 2021 | to place a neighborhood entrance sign at the corner of Susie Street and RCA Park Drive. | $1,107.60 |
