Hopewell: Bloomington OKs mold cleanup at potential police HQ, small study of parking garage

At Monday’s meeting of Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC), two big existing structures that sit currently unused in the Hopewell neighborhood were the focus of separate agenda items.

To prevent even more deterioration inside the now vacant former Bloomington Convalescent Center building at 714 S. Rogers, the RDC approved a $25,000 contract with VET Environmental Engineering to do spot treatment of mold, do some selective demolition, and provide ongoing monitoring for mold. The building has been targeted by Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson’s administration as the future headquarters for the city’s police department.

On 2nd Street, a block northwest of the 714 S. Rogers building is the former IU Health parking garage with its roughly 480 spaces. To get a better idea of the current structural condition of the parking garage, the RDC approved an $11,500 contract with CE Solutions do an assessment of the structure. That follows a more in depth study of the garage that CE Solutions already did in 2023, for about $88,000.

The city asked IU Health not to demolish the parking garage as it did most of the rest of the hospital buildings, with the idea that the parking facility could serve the neighborhood that is planned to be redeveloped and named Hopewell.

Hopewell parking garage

According to the wording of the resolution about the parking garage, the reason for the new study by CE Solutions is because “guttering issues have been discovered, transients have repeatedly been found in the structure, and there has been a significant amount of time since the 2023 assessment was completed …”

At Monday’s meeting, Anna Killion-Hanson, who is the city’s HAND director and serves as the executive director of the city’s redevelopment commission, told the RDC that the previous study had identified several significant repairs that were needed—but those repairs had not yet been done. A fresh study is needed, Killion-Hanson said, before moving ahead with repairs, to make sure the scope of work is comprehensive.

According to the terms of the agreement with CE Solutions, engineers will visually inspect the garage to assess damage and recommend top-priority repairs, using hammers and chains to check suspicious looking concrete areas. They won’t do any drilling, testing, or structural analysis. They’ll recommend repairs, or strengthening of any structural defects.

RDC member John West indicated some disappointment that no repairs had yet been undertaken, given that the RDC had already spent money on a study. Also taking up the topic was RDC member Randy Cassady, who started with, “If we’re gonna study it …” Finishing Cassady’s sentence was Killion-Hanson “ … we’re gonna do it.”

Cassady followed up by saying he was glad that the garage is getting studied, adding, “But we need to start putting in some action plans—which you’re doing a great job of—to make sure that as we spend these monies on consultants, that we actually either fix it or tear it down.” Killion-Hanson told Cassady: “We’re gonna fix it!”

714 S. Rogers: Remediation

In 2024, the RDC already paid VET Environmental Engineering $39,661 for water mediation and mold treatment of the 714 S. Rogers building, which formerly served as home to the Bloomington Convalescent Center. That damage was caused, according to the RDC’s resolution, when “transients broke into the [building], turn[ed] on the water, which resulted in frozen and broken pipes and significant water damage …”

After that previous work was done, it was discovered that the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system was not working, because the electrical feed to the HVAC system had been accidentally cut in connection with the work to demolish the other buildings along 1st Street west of 714 S. Rogers. It took a while to restore electrical service to the building. That meant the interior of the building did not completely dry out.

At Monday’s RDC meeting, RDC member John West asked if the demolition contractor had liability for the severed electrical line. RDC executive director Anna Killion-Hanson told West, “I don’t think there was. What has been communicated to me, at least, was that there was a miscommunication …”

RDC member Randy Cassady started off his remarks by saying, “I’m trying to think of how to put this delicately in regards to it—because we’ve been messing with this building for years.” He asked Killion-Hanson for an expected time frame for settling the building’s future. Responding to Cassady’s frustration, Killion-Hanson said, “Amen!”

She continued by describing the impact of a new tax law passed by the state legislature this year, which decreases the amount of revenue that is available to local governments from property taxes, and puts some new regulations in place on bond issuance.

The city has estimated the cost of renovating the building into a new police headquarters at around $23 million.

Alluding to the possible project to convert the now vacant 57,000-square-foot building into a new police headquarters, Killion-Hanson told the RDC on Monday, “We’ve had to sort of pause for a second … and do some financial analysis to say: ‘What is available? Is this even a viable project or not?’” She continued, “We’ve worked through that for the most part—we’re getting very close.” In the meantime, she indicated, it’s important that the damage inside the building not be allowed to get worse.

Responding to an emailed question from The B Square this week about whether the mayor’s proposed 2026 budget would address the future of the 714 S. Rogers building as a potential HQ for Bloomington police, communications director Desiree DeMolina wrote, “The 2026 budget book is still taking shape and will be released next week.”