(BLOOMINGTON) – Community members are invited to share feedback about the replacement of the Fourth Street parking garage at an open house today from 4:30 until 6 p.m. in the atrium at City Hall (401 N. Morton St.).
The garage is currently being decommissioned in preparation for demolition. Bloomington Common Council voted last month to approve funding for a complete rebuild and expansion of the facility when structural analysis revealed that the cost of repairing the existing garage exceeded previous estimates. The decommissioning process, which involves the removal of signage, cameras, lighting and other materials for reuse, resale, and recycling, is scheduled to be completed by the end of May.
During the open house, City staff and representatives from CSO Architects and construction manager F.A. Wilhelm will be available to provide an overview of the project. Those attending can learn about and weigh in on relevant considerations, such as site context, architectural context, sustainability, and the facility’s public art component. Public input gathered at Thursday’s event will contribute to preliminary design concepts for the structure.
The City has committed to attaining Parksmart certification for the garage, which will mean including such environmentally sustainable features as electric vehicle charging stations, bike lockers, solar generation and the potential for adaptive reuse of portions of the garage, among other desired features. Incorporating commercial space on portions of the ground floor of the structure is also being considered.
“Rebuilding the Fourth Street garage presents an opportunity for our community to update and modernize a key piece of infrastructure in the core of our downtown in a way that best serves our residents, businesses, visitors and environment,” said Mayor John Hamilton.
