Tag: tourism

Bloomington city council OKs convention center interlocal accord, but not unanimously

Bloomington city councilmember Kate Rosenbarger.
Monroe County capital improvement board president John Whikehart.
Downtown Bloomington, Inc. executive director Talisha Coppock.
Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson.
Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce director of advocacy Christopher Emge.
Bloomington corporation counsel Margie Rice.

The governance structure for the expansion of the Monroe Convention center, which currently stands at 3rd Street and College Avenue, is now settled.

On Wednesday night, Bloomington’s city council approved its side of a four-way interlocal agreement about the way the Monroe County capital improvement board (CIB) will interact with other local units, to handle the convention center expansion project.

The vote on the nine-member city council was 7–1. Dissenting was Kate Rosenbarger.

The tally does not add to 9, because the District 5 seat is currently vacant, pending the selection of a replacement at Saturday’s (March 2) vacancy caucus to be held by the Democratic Party.

Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson attended Wednesday’s meeting, but did not address the council. After the council’s vote, Thomson responded to a B Square question by saying she would be signing the agreement as soon as it is presented to her.

The city council’s approval came after the Monroe County commissioners approved the agreement last week,  and the county council adopted it the week before. Continue reading “Bloomington city council OKs convention center interlocal accord, but not unanimously” →

Convention center notebook: What’s the deal with the food and beverage tax advisory commission?

With an announcement on Friday from the mayor’s office, Bloomington appears to be charting its own course, independent of any deal with Monroe County government, to “to expand the space available for conventions and other large gatherings in Bloomington.”

Key to the city’s effort—just as it would have been if a deal had been reached with Monroe County government—will be the use of food and beverage tax revenues.

Expenditures of food and beverage tax revenue, by either Bloomington or Monroe County, have to be approved by a seven-member local commission called the food and beverage advisory commission (FABTAC). There’s currently a vacancy for a “community representative” on the FABTAC.

Under state law, the appointment to “community representative” seats on the FABTAC is made “by the city and county executive.”

That means whatever path forward is taken on the question of adding convention center space, the mayor of Bloomington and the three-member board of county commissioners will have to agree on the appointment to the vacant FABTAC seat. Continue reading “Convention center notebook: What’s the deal with the food and beverage tax advisory commission?” →

Monroe County commission preps for restart to convention center project, maybe before year’s end

From left: David Schaum, Mike Campbell

At a meeting on Friday , a question from a new member of Monroe County’s convention and visitors commission (CVC) got to the heart of a lingering issue for the Bloomington area local government officials.

“It’s my understanding that we’re looking to evaluate whether this convention center is…at a capacity that it would need to grow. Correct?” asked David Schaum.

Schaum got confirmation he was on the right track about a convention center expansion.

Schaum is the new general manager at Fourwinds Lakeside Inn & Marina on Lake Monroe. Schaum is new not just to the general manager job at Fourwinds. He’s new to the Bloomington area, having moved here from Washington D.C.

That means Schaum has not yet been fully briefed on the political friction between the city and the county governments that has stalled the convention center expansion project for more than two years.

The project has gotten as far as a preliminary assessment of sites, with a preferred site recommended by a task force. The price tag for one proposal was around $44 million, but that’s likely increased a lot, given general inflationary pressures and supply chain issues.

About the idea of evaluating the need for an expansion, CVC chair Mike Campbell, told Schaum at Friday’s CVC meeting, “I think we’re a little past that.” Campbell serves on the CVC as associate director of Indiana Memorial Union.

Executive director of the Monroe County Convention Center, Talisha Coppock, added, “We need to grow!” At Friday’s meeting, 10 lost event bookings were reported—purely due to the limited capacity of the current convention center.

The CVC is now looking at a six-month time-frame to get the expansion project restarted.

At Friday’s meeting, the CVC voted to recommend to the seven-member county council that the 2023 budget put $75,000 of the increased innkeeper’s tax revenue towards bumping up a line item for CVC members to use to support the expansion restart. Continue reading “Monroe County commission preps for restart to convention center project, maybe before year’s end” →

Monroe County set for final vote on limestone heritage land, no news on convention center project

Aerial photo from Monroe County’s online property lookup system.

At their Wednesday morning meeting, the three Monroe County commissioners approved a $640,000 purchase of land that contains several limestone quarry holes, at the northwest side of the interchange of SR-46 and I-69.

That sets up a final vote on the land purchase by the seven-member county council at its June 14 meeting. The council heard the item for a first reading this week at its Tuesday work session.

The purpose of the land acquisition is to establish the location as a kind of outdoor limestone museum that celebrates Monroe County’s heritage of high quality limestone, and the role the limestone industry has played in local history.

The land that is currently pending a final vote would add about 70 acres to another 29 acres just to the north, which was purchased by the county in fall 2021 for the same purpose.

Then as now, county councilor Mary Hawk raised objections, based on the land’s history adjoining an EPA Superfund site. When the item comes back for a second reading, Hawk will be voting no.

The funding for the land acquisition will come from issuance of a general obligation (GO) bond issued in 2019.

When land acquisition is complete, funding for the development of the site as a tourist destination will come at least in part from the Monroe County government’s share of the 1-percent food and beverage tax (FBT). Continue reading “Monroe County set for final vote on limestone heritage land, no news on convention center project” →