Tag: construction contracts

Flood damaged Bloomington fire station gets $4.5M in construction contracts OK’d for major renovation

Bloomington Fire Station 1 on 4th Street (Nov. 21, 2203)
Map of Bloomington fire station locations.
Aerial image of Bloomington Fire Station 1. The view is to the south.
Aerial image of temporary fire station location. The view is to the south.
Reserve apparatus stored at Station 1 (Nov. 21, 2022)
Bloomington board of public works: Jane Kupersmith, Elizabeth Karon, Kyla Cox Deckard (Nov. 21, 2023)
Bloomington fire chief Jason Moore (Nov. 21, 2022)

For the last two and a half years, Bloomington’s main fire station on 4th Street has sat unused for fire operations.  That’s because it was damaged in the flood of June 2021.

But construction work on the existing 4th Street station, to put Station 1 back into service, is set to start on Dec. 1.

About $4.5 million in construction contracts for the work was approved by Bloomington’s board of public works at its regular Tuesday meeting.

In an email responding to a B Square question, fire chief Jason Moore called the work “a much needed public safety project that has been in the works since the flood in 2021.”

Serving as a temporary downtown fire station for the last two and a half years has been the former Bunger & Robertson building at 4th and College, which was outfitted with a temporary structure that serves as a firetruck bay. Continue reading “Flood damaged Bloomington fire station gets $4.5M in construction contracts OK’d for major renovation” →

Bloomington mayor-elect asks current mayor not to make strategic choices impacting beyond year’s end

Excerpt from construction drawings for the Showers West renovation.
Excerpt from construction drawings for the Showers West renovation.

With six weeks left before she is sworn into office, Bloomington mayor-elect Kerry Thomson has sent a letter to outgoing mayor John Hamilton asking him to “refrain from making any strategic or discretionary decisions which will impact beyond December 31, 2023.”

The letter was dated Nov. 14, exactly a week after Thomson was elected Bloomington’s next mayor. A Democrat, Thomson’s was one of 10 uncontested races on the ballot for city office—mayor, city clerk, and city council. It was Democrats who were all unopposed in those races. A Democrat prevailed in the 11th race as well.

Hamilton is also a Democrat. But Thomson’s letter could be one indication that the transition between the two Dems is not without some discontent.

Still, responding to an emailed B Square question, about whether there was a precipitating event that prompted her letter, Thomson called her request of Hamilton “a fairly typical request during transitions.”

Thomson confirmed to The B Square that her request of Hamilton includes the Showers West renovation and the sale of the 3rd Street police station.

But Thomson added that her request applies “also to any other significant commitments the city is making for which I and the next city council should have the opportunity to opine as we will be in leadership to carry these out.” Continue reading “Bloomington mayor-elect asks current mayor not to make strategic choices impacting beyond year’s end” →

$8M in construction bids awarded for Bloomington technology center, more to come

Studio Axis rendering from the northeast.
The image, looking east, is dated April 2020. It’s from the Pictometry module of Monroe County’s online property lookup system. Annotation by The B Square.
Construction bid package opening at city hall. (Sept. 26, 2023)

Ahead of the scheduled ceremonial groundbreaking on Thursday, about $8 million in construction contracts have been awarded to build a technology center in Bloomington’s Trades District, which is part of a certified technology park in the downtown.

It was Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC) that approved the construction contracts, at its regular meeting on Monday. At a special meeting last Wednesday, the RDC had approved an extra $3.8 million in funding for the center, which now has a budget of  about $12.8 million.

Wednesday’s special meeting had already been put on the calendar, before the opening of bids last Tuesday, in case the bids came in higher than budgeted, and they did.

Awarded at Monday’s meeting were the contracts for bid package #1 (site work), and for the bid packages #2 (general trades) and #4 (roofing).

The $1,248,142 contract for site work went to E&B paving. The contracts for general trades and roofing were awarded to Building Associates, Inc. for a total of $6,746,000. Continue reading “$8M in construction bids awarded for Bloomington technology center, more to come” →