Solar panel design work OK’d for The Forge, recertification from state for Bloomington’s technology park
The Forge, which is the technology center currently under construction in the southeast corner of the Trades District, just south of The Mill coworking space, will have a set of solar panels designed by MPI Solar.
The $1,900 contract for the solar panel design work was approved by Bloomington’s redevelopment commission at its regular Monday meeting.
When it’s completed, the 3-story 22,000-square-foot building that’s going up north of 10th Street, and west of Madison Street is supposed to provide office space for technology companies that are beyond the startup phase.
The Forge will also appear on the agenda for the Tuesday night meeting of Bloomington’s board of public works, for use of the right-of-way in Madison Street and Maker Way next to the building site. The construction crews are already using the street to reach the upper stories with boom lifts.
At its Monday meeting, Bloomington’s RDC also learned that the 65-acre Technology Park, of which the 12-acre Trades District is a part, has been recertified by the state of Indiana.
As a certified technology park (CTP), that means it is now eligible to receive $250,000 a year in sales and income tax revenue that is shared back from the state.
A new law passed during the 2023 legislative session affects CTPs like Bloomington’s, which had previously reached their lifetime $5-million cap for sales and income tax revenue shared back from the state.
Jane Kupersmith, who is Bloomington’s director of economic and sustainable development, shared the news on behalf of assistant director of small business development, Andrea de la Rosa—who started working last fall to put together the CTP recertification application.
Last fall, the RDC approved a $50,000 agreement with Indiana University’s Public Policy Institute, to help meet state requirements for reporting about the city’s CTP.
During Monday’s meeting, RDC member John West asked about why MPI Solar was doing the design work instead of the installer, which would be Woods Electrical Contractors—the firm that won the bid for electrical work on the project.
A quick text message from Kupersmith to Christopher Ciolli, with Weddle Bros., which is the construction manager for the project, confirmed that MPI is subcontracting for the work from Woods.
RDC member Randy Cassady called the scenario a “scope gap” for the work that the electrical contractor had bid on.
