Bloomington Parks and Recreation and Public Works created a cordoned-off detour on B-Line Trail

BLOOMINGTON – The City of Bloomington Housing and Neighborhood Development (HAND) Department on January 13, 2022, issued an “Unsafe Building Order to Repair” to the owners of the property at 400 West 7th Street.

The order was issued specifically for the 140-foot-tall Johnson Creamery smokestack.

The B-Line Trail in the area immediately adjacent to the smokestack was closed. Bloomington Parks and Recreation and Public Works created a cordoned-off detour, lined with orange barricades, through the southwest part of the parking lot south of City Hall.

An inspection on December 14, 2021, determined the smokestack to be potentially dangerous, and on December 21, 2021, HAND ordered it to be repaired within 60 days.

As a precaution to protect public safety, the B-Line Trail in the area immediately adjacent to the smokestack was closed in January 2022, until repairs to the smokestack are completed. B-Line Trail traffic was routed to Morton Avenue for a half block around the closure area.

The smokestack will not be lowered or removed until August at the earliest.

On June 1, Bloomington Parks and Recreation and Public Works created a cordoned-off detour, lined with orange barricades, through the southwest part of the parking lot south of City Hall. The detour area is for bicycle and pedestrian traffic only and bypasses the trail closure area to return trail users to the B-Line.