Tag: demolition

Photos: Brick-by-brick partial demolition of Johnson’s Creamery smokestack starts, as Bloomington watches like a hawk

On Thursday, the partial demolition got started for the Johnson’s Creamery smokestack, located off the B-Line Trail and 7th Street.

Two workers in a metal cage suspended from a crane first removed the topmost metal reinforcement band from around the stack, which they lowered to the ground.

With the metal band out of the way, they used a hand-held power tool to bust up bits of the masonry and shoved loosened bricks over into the hollow interior of the stack.

The work circled the smokestack counterclockwise (east-to-north-to-west-to-south). By the end of Thursday, the first of the iconic vertical letters had disappeared against partly cloudy blue skies. That meant the smokestack would, at least overnight, read “OHNSON’S.”

While workers chipped away at the top of the smokestack, a red-tailed hawk kept watch two blocks east, on top of the antenna affixed to the roof of Monroe County’s Charlotte Zietlow Justice Center. Continue reading “Photos: Brick-by-brick partial demolition of Johnson’s Creamery smokestack starts, as Bloomington watches like a hawk” →

Telecom gear gone from Johnson’s Creamery smokestack, partial demolition to come next week

Workers remove AT&T telecommunications gear from the historic Johnson’s Creamery smokestack. (Aug. 8, 2022)
Workers remove AT&T telecommunications gear from the historic Johnson’s Creamery smokestack. (Aug. 8, 2022)
Workers remove AT&T telecommunications gear from the historic Johnson’s Creamery smokestack. (Aug. 8, 2022)
Workers remove AT&T telecommunications gear from the historic Johnson’s Creamery smokestack. (Aug. 8, 2022)
Workers remove AT&T telecommunications gear from the historic Johnson’s Creamery smokestack. (Aug. 8, 2022)

The actual “H” in the word “Johnson’s”—which is spelled out in the brick on the Johnson’s Creamery historic smokestack, off 7th Street in downtown Bloomington—is now visible.

Until Monday, the letter had been obscured by some AT&T telecommunications equipment that was installed at the top of the smokestack.  Two bars of the telecom gear had been colored white, as a stand-in for the “H” so that the name of the historic creamery was still legible.

On Monday morning, a crew from an AT&T contractor removed the telecommunications equipment from the top of the smokestack.

AT&T had been ordered to remove the equipment by Bloomington’s housing and neighborhood development (HAND) department.

The removal of the gear sets the stage for the partial demolition of the smokestack, which has been ordered by Bloomington’s housing and neighborhood development (HAND) department, because an engineering study determined that the smokestack is structurally unsound.

The smokestack, with its unsafe lean, is supposed to be knocked down from 140 feet to 60 feet.

The Johnson’s Creamery building, which is now its own local historic district, is owned by Peerless Development.

Responding to an emailed question from The B Square, Peerless founder Michael Cordaro indicated on Monday that his contractors should be on site next week to begin the demolition and restoration work on the smokestack. He estimated the time for that work at four to six weeks. Continue reading “Telecom gear gone from Johnson’s Creamery smokestack, partial demolition to come next week” →

IU Poplars: Bloomington board closes streets so public stands clear when walls come crumblin’ down

The aerial image with perspective from from the north is from the Monroe County online property lookup system.
View from the north of the Poplar Building on 7th Street on July 19, 2022.

“You have a beautiful neighborhood that we want to assist in improving ever further by the removal of the IU Poplars Building.”

That’s a line from a July 12 heads-up letter that was hand-delivered by Renascent, Inc. to neighbors of the Indiana University Poplars Building on 7th Street, west of campus.

Renascent is the company that has been contracted to do the demolition work, which has already started.

The hand-delivered letter warned residents of upcoming closures of Grant Street, west of the building, and Dunn Street, east of the building.

The sentiment in Renascent’s letter reflects the lack of affection for the building, which was constructed in 1964 as a hotel, purchased by Indiana University in 1972, and eventually converted to office space. Continue reading “IU Poplars: Bloomington board closes streets so public stands clear when walls come crumblin’ down” →

First phase demolition for Hopewell: Bloomington picks Renascent for $589K job

The west end of the former IU Health hospital site. (June 22, 2022)
The base aerial image of the Phase 1 East area for redevelopment is from Monroe County’s online property lookup system. Yellow highlights and numbers were added by The B Square.

By the end of summer, all but three of the buildings on a central Bloomington block, near the former IU Health hospital site, are set to be demolished.

It’s the area that has been named the Hopewell neighborhood.

On Tuesday evening, Bloomington’s board of public works, as well as the city’s redevelopment commission (RDC), approved the $588,755 contract with Indianapolis-based Renascent, Inc. for the demolition work.

It’s a separate demolition project from the one already underway on the west end of the former IU Health hospital site. IU Health has to demolish all the structures on the main site, except for the parking garage and the Kohr administration building, before transferring ownership to the city of Bloomington.

It’s part of a $6.5-million real estate deal. In early December last year,  IU Health moved to its new facility on the east side of town, on the SR 45/46 bypass.

The focus of the demolition work approved on Tuesday is Phase 1 East in the city’s master plan for redevelopment of the former hospital site.  It’s the block bounded by 1st and 2nd streets on the north and south, and Morton and Rogers on the east and west. The demolition contract approved on Tuesday involves property already under the city’s control. Continue reading “First phase demolition for Hopewell: Bloomington picks Renascent for $589K job” →

Old Colonial Crest redux: Bloomington OKs mostly same site plan for 671-bedroom student-oriented housing project, but under different zoning

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labeled bordered for inset R Map Locator old The Arch parcelYYYxxxx

Approved by Bloomington’s plan commission on Monday night was a site plan for a project that would demolish the old Colonial Crest apartment complex, now called The Arch, on the north side of town.

In the place of 206 apartments and 393 bedrooms, spread across 15 separate two-story buildings, the developer plans to construct four residential buildings with a total of 241 apartments and 675 bedrooms, according to a letter from Smith Design Group, which is the consultant for the Aspen TOPCO II Acquisitions project.

That nets roughly 270 more bedrooms on the same site.

It’s basically the same site plan that the plan commission approved in mid-June.

According to Bloomington senior zoning planner Eric Greulich, the big difference between the version approved by the plan commission on Monday, compared to what was approved three months ago, is the lack of any new public roads proposed inside the project site.

Instead, Greulich said, one long driveway will wind through the site, with perpendicular parking off the driveway. A total of 495 parking spaces is included in the site plan. Continue reading “Old Colonial Crest redux: Bloomington OKs mostly same site plan for 671-bedroom student-oriented housing project, but under different zoning” →

Circuit court trial on demolition permit could come before mid-March BZA hearing on $83.5K fine

Now expected to appear on the March 19 agenda of Bloomington’s board of zoning appeals (BZA) meeting is an objection to the city’s decision last fall to impose an $83,500 fine on the owners of a West 7th Street house.

The owners demolished the house without a required certificate of zoning compliance (CZC).

cropped 2020-01-21 historic house demolition IMG_6189
View of 523 West 7th St. facing south on Jan. 21, 2020. A house stood there until late September 2019.

The house had previously been reviewed by the city’s historic preservation commission for historic designation.

The BZA hearing was originally set for last November, but it has been put off a couple of times due to scheduling conflicts.

In the last week of February, a related lawsuit filed by the owners against city and county officials saw a light flurry of filings in the Monroe County circuit court. The lawsuit seeks a mandate from the court ordering the city’s planning and transportation director, Terri Porter, to issue the required CZC.

The question now is whether a ruling on the court case will come before or after the BZA hearing.

Just how connected are the court case and the BZA hearing? Continue reading “Circuit court trial on demolition permit could come before mid-March BZA hearing on $83.5K fine” →

Owners of demolished house fight Bloomington’s $83.5K fine two ways: Court action, appeal to BZA

After the owners of a house on West 7th Street demolished it last year, the city of Bloomington imposed an $83,500 fine—for not first getting a certificate of zoning compliance.

Before the house was demolished, it was reviewed for possible historic designation. According to city officials, it was still under the review process, when it was demolished.

The city imposed the fine in late October, after the house was demolished on Sept. 27.

What has happened since then?

Baker and Holdman immediately appealed to the city’s board of zoning appeals (BZA). A bit later, in mid-December, they filed a mandamus action in Monroe’s circuit court. Continue reading “Owners of demolished house fight Bloomington’s $83.5K fine two ways: Court action, appeal to BZA” →

Bloomington plan commission punts parking garage site plan to December

Bloomington’s plan commission voted at its regular meeting on Monday night to put off until December its consideration of the city’s proposed replacement parking garage at 4th and Walnut Streets

The site plan appeared on the agenda but was not indicated as continued, as it had been from August to September,  from September to October, and from October to November.

The short-handed plan commission voted Monday 5–0 for the continuance. That’s the minimum the nine-member commission needs for a quorum or for an affirmative vote. The site plan might be heard at the plan commission’s Dec. 9 meeting.

The reason for the repeated continuance on the site plan stems from the fact that the city does not own part of the land—the south end of the block between 4th and 3rd streets—on which the replacement garage is supposed to be built.

The site plan submitted by the city is for a six-story garage with 510 parking spaces and roughly 11,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. The footprint would extend for 4th Street to the south end of the block at 3rd Street. Continue reading “Bloomington plan commission punts parking garage site plan to December” →

Bloomington fines owner of property $83.5K for demolishing historic house without permit, owner to appeal

According to a press released issued Monday afternoon and subsequent clarification from the city, Bloomington’s department of planning and transportation has levied an $83,500 fine against the owners of a house on 7th Street. They demolished the house in late September without first obtaining a certificate of zoning compliance.

cropped 09-30-2019 danger IMG_4926
523 W. 7th Street on Sept. 30, 2019 (Dave Askins/Beacon)

On Aug. 8, the city’s historic preservation commission (HPC) recommended the house to the city council for historic designation. The commission’s resolution did not explicitly say that the house was being put under interim protection.

But the requirement of a certificate of zoning compliance before demolition applies to structures whether or not they’re under consideration for historic designation. It was the owners’ request for such a certificate that led to the demolition delay process, which the HPC was following when it made its recommendation for historic designation.

The amount of the fine, according to the press release, was based on a penalty levied for each day the property was in violation of the city code, but capped at the most recent assessed value of the house and garage by Monroe County’s auditor.

Late Monday afternoon, Bloomington’s corporation counsel, Philippa Guthrie, told The Beacon that the property owners, David Holdman and Judie Baker, had filed an appeal of the city’s decision to fine them.

A notice of the violation was sent to  Holdman and Judie Baker on Oct. 16, according to the press release. The press release says that the property owners have a right to appeal to the city’s board of zoning appeals within five days of the date of the notice.

Guthrie said the appeal is currently set for the BZA’s next meeting, which is Nov. 21. Continue reading “Bloomington fines owner of property $83.5K for demolishing historic house without permit, owner to appeal” →

Historic house teardown technicalities could add fuel to upcoming UDO debate

523 W. 7th Street on Sept. 30, 2019 (Dave Askins/Beacon)
523 W. 7th Street on Sept. 30, 2019 (Dave Askins/Beacon)
523 W. 7th Street on Sept. 30, 2019 (Dave Askins/Beacon)

The demolition late last week of the house at 523 W. 7th Street was initially analyzed as a flagrant flouting of Bloomington’s due process  for assigning historic designation to a property. That’s because the city’s historic preservation commission passed a resolution on Aug 8, recommending to the city council that it vote to designate the house as a separate historic district.

Conor Herterich, the city’s historic preservation program manager, told The Beacon on Monday that the demolition violated the property’s interim protection against demolition—a protection provided by the commission’s resolution.

As of late Tuesday afternoon, however, it appears that the commission’s resolution, initially believed by city officials to have given the house interim protection, was not worded so that the intended protection was given. The meeting minutes from the Aug. 8 meeting say: “…the HPC recommends its historic designation under Title 8 of the BMC to the Common Council with the attached map.” There doesn’t appear to have been any explicit mention of “interim protection.”

Based on information from a source with the city, there’s been an preliminary conclusion by city staff that the property owners did not flout any interim protection, because the wording of the resolution didn’t explicitly mention “interim protection.” According to the source, there’s a second technicality that’s apparently in favor of the property owner, David Holdman. The second technical glitch is the city’s possible failure to give Holdman proper notice of the HPC’s finding and recommendation. Continue reading “Historic house teardown technicalities could add fuel to upcoming UDO debate” →