(BLOOMINGTON) – The City of Bloomington Redevelopment Commission invites the public to an event marking the sale of the historic Kiln property in the City’s new Trades District and sharing plans for its development.
At the ceremony, today Mayor John Hamilton will officially transfer the property to the purchasers, doing business as the Kiln Collective. Those attending will have the opportunity to tour the historic property.
The event is from 12:30 p.m. until 1:30 p.m. at 642 North Madison Street. The Kiln is the brick structure located just north of The Mill in the Trades District, at 11th and Madison Streets.
The latest property in the City’s new Trades District to be activated, the 100-year-old Kiln building was originally part of the Showers Brothers Furniture Company complex, serving as a facility for drying lumber to be milled into furniture.
The Kiln is listed on the National Register of Historical Places and is also locally designated as part of the Showers Brothers Furniture Factory Historic District. The new owners intend to develop the property as a location where established companies and flourishing startups in development at the Mill and elsewhere may expand. Designs also include restaurant space.
Since the designation of the 65-acre Certified Technology Park in 2005, of which the 12-acre Trades District is part, the site has seen the transformation of the historic Dimension Mill into a business incubator and co-work space, infrastructure improvements in the form of new streets, walkways and other environmentally friendly amenities, and a new parking structure, the construction of which has begun. The Kiln is located within a federally designated Opportunity Zone, which provides tax benefits to those developing the property.
