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# Showers West Notebook: RDC members question continued ownership as city offices move in
- URL: https://bsquarebulletin.com/showers-west-notebook-rdc-members-question-continued-ownership-as-city-offices-move-in/
- Published: 2026-10-09T17:20:22.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-09T17:22:31.000Z
- Description: Bloomington’s redevelopment commission has paid nearly $77,000 in electricity bills for Showers West this year, while city departments occupy much of the building without leases. Commissioners are considering transferring ownership or establishing leases to clarify who should pay the bills.
- Author: Dave Askins
- Tags: Local Government, #no-inline-feature

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/6f/206f9007-c0a7-47d4-b87b-686c21961f22/content/images/2026/10/2026-10-09-showers-west-PXL_20261009_153443765--1-.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/6f/206f9007-c0a7-47d4-b87b-686c21961f22/content/images/2026/10/2026-10-09-showers-weest-PXL_20261009_153002476.PORTRAIT.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/6f/206f9007-c0a7-47d4-b87b-686c21961f22/content/images/2026/10/2026-10-09-showers--west-PXL_20261009_152908913.PORTRAIT.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/6f/206f9007-c0a7-47d4-b87b-686c21961f22/content/images/2026/10/2026-10-09-showers-west-lobby-PXL_20261009_152758008.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/6f/206f9007-c0a7-47d4-b87b-686c21961f22/content/images/2026/10/2026-10-09-showerrs-west-lobby-PXL_20261009_152812263.jpg)

****Top row:** Showers West offices for the Bloomington fire department, engineering department, and the city council. ****Bottom row:** Showers west lobby. (Dave Askins, Oct. 9, 2026)

Who should own Showers West, and who should pay the bills for it? 

Those questions surfaced at the end of Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC) meeting on Monday (Oct. 5), as commissioners discussed the costs of maintaining a building increasingly occupied by city government offices.

Showers West is the western portion of the former Showers Brothers Furniture building that also houses city hall in its eastern portion, and county government offices in its northern part. It’s a brick building that is more than a century old.

Even though in casual conversation the Bloomington RDC and the city of Bloomington are mostly interchangeable, when it comes to legal ownership, for the members of the RDC, of course, it makes a big difference.

The immediate financial context for Monday’s discussion was a report that the RDC has paid [$76,957.93 in Duke Energy bills](https://bloomington.spending.socrata.com/#!/year/2026/explore/1/priority?x-return-url=https:%2F%2Fbloomington.finance.socrata.com%2F%23!%2Fdashboard&x-return-description=Return to Open Finance) for Showers West since January. 

RDC member John West raised the possibility of transferring the building out of the commission’s ownership.

“Is there some scenario or opportunity for the RDC to transfer the ownership of Showers West to some other entity, or we get out from under?” West asked.

The RDC bought Showers West for $8.75 million in January 2023, under an initiative by then-mayor John Hamilton’s administration, to turn it into new headquarters for fire and police. Mayor Kerry Thomson’s administration [abandoned that plan](https://bsquarebulletin.com/bloomington-mayor-cites-cost-as-big-reason-to-nix-showers-west-remodel-for-police-hq-but-fire-department-projects-to-proceed/) in February 2024\. The fire administration did move to the Showers West building.

But at the same meeting on Monday, the RDC approved the [issuance of an RFP](https://bsquarebulletin.com/bloomington-looking-for-architect-to-design-30m-police-hq-project-at-714-s-rogers/) for an architecture firm to create a design for the rehab-reuse of the former Bloomington Convalescent Center at 714 S. Rogers as Bloomington’s main police station. 

The history of Showers West since its purchase by the city has included a legal fight with private tenants whose leases the RDC assumed when it bought the property. Bond restrictions requiring public use of the building prompted the city to try to terminate those leases using inverse condemnation. 

After losing in court, the RDC [agreed to settlements totaling $381,650](https://bsquarebulletin.com/bloomington-to-pay-381k-to-settle-showers-west-disputes-after-court-losses/), plus a year of free rent for one tenant. That means for another year there will be a portion of the building still unavailable for the city’s use.

At Monday’s RDC meeting, city controller Geoff McKim told commissioners that the city’s engineering department, fire department and city council now occupy space in Showers West.

RDC president Deborah Myerson questioned the arrangement under which the RDC owns the building and pays its expenses, while city departments occupy it without lease agreements.

“I would like to request a lease agreement,” Myerson said. “I think that that would be an appropriate way to manage the responsibilities and expenses.”

Myerson said she had not known that the city council was moving into Showers West. “We own it. We don’t have any lease agreement. We’re paying. We hear how much utilities costs,” Myerson said.

West favored pursuing an ownership transfer rather than spending time drafting leases. Myerson agreed that a transfer was worth exploring, but said a lease arrangement might be needed in the meantime. She suggested determining whether ownership could be transferred by the end of the calendar year. Otherwise, she said, the commission should revisit the idea of leases.

“This gray area is not tolerable right now,” Myerson said.

McKim said he would need to research the process for transferring ownership. RDC executive director Anna Killion-Hanson told commissioners that the Thomson administration was already working on the ownership question and would provide an update.

No formal action was taken.