Bloomington residents upset with plan to build monolith in Miller-Showers Park

There's an unexpected kink in the city's $1 million plan to erect a 40-foot-tall illuminated monolith in Miller-Showers Park.

Site work on the project, for which bids have been awarded and was to begin Sept. 18, has been delayed by a bureaucratic pause.

Artists, nature lovers, bird watchers and others against the project spoke out at Tuesday's Board of Public Works meeting. They said news of the monolith project presented this week by local media came as an unwelcome surprise.

Catch up: 40-foot-tall 'gateway' tower to be built in Bloomington park

First on the agenda under new business was: "Lane and Sidewalk Closure Request from Reed and Sons for the Bloomington Gateway Project at Miller Showers Park."

Members Kyla Cox Deckard and Elizabeth Karon were asked to deny the request. Without the closure, work on the suddenly controversial project can't get underway.

"You, right now, are the people who can stop this," Betty Rose Nagle said during the public comment portion of the meeting. "It's a big ask. Please."

They didn't vote no, but agreed to table the right-of-way closure request until their next meeting.

Gateway project in the making since 2018

They advised people who oppose the four-story tower to contact the Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department, or members of the parks board who last year authorized the bicentennial project's design and spending.

The "gateway" project initially was approved by the city council back in 2018. Plans were delayed by the pandemic, city parks spokesman Tim Street said during Tuesday's meeting.

He said in December 2022, proposals for the bicentennial art project were showcased at City Hall. He said a community survey was conducted. He said the Bloomington Arts Commission was consulted.

Valda Hillery spoke against the monolith. She said she once served on the city arts commission "and we would never, ever have approved a project like this."

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Residents concerned about birds, effect on historic sculpture

Opponents were concerned about light pollution, danger to flying birds and waterfowl in the park, and the proximity of the tower to an historic Jean-Paul Darriau limestone carving, “Red, Blond, Black, and Olive.”

The installation features two 11-ton slabs of limestone carved with faces depicting the racial diversity in Bloomington.

The sculpture was chosen through a competition judged by a committee of artists and citizens during the administration of Frank McCloskey, Bloomington's mayor from 1972 to 1983.

"It is considered the initial achievement of Bloomington’s Community Arts Commission," an Indiana University history of Darriau's work said of the sculpture. "The piece is meant to promote and celebrate communication across racial lines, and work towards universal understanding among people."

The statue was in the center of Miller-Showers Park from 1980 until 2002, when it was relocated to its current site farther north. The planned monolith is in the same area and will tower above the stone sculpture.

Bloomington artist David Ebbinghouse, who has written about the significance of the Darriau piece, was distressed when he read a newspaper article about the monolith. He came to the public works meeting.

"This is going to have a terrible backlash," he said.

"In view of our social problems, human problems ... this is like a vanity project. It's a bad idea."

"This is not artwork," another speaker said. "This monolith is the ugliest thing I've ever seen."

Susan Brackney said the city should consider the effect of lights on birds at night. She suggested using Indiana limestone instead of coated aluminum, and spending the money to plant more trees and native prairies to celebrate the city's 200 years.

Some speakers said the money could be better spent. One woman urged thinking outside the box by diverting the money the city appropriated for its 2018 bicentennial celebration to affordable housing and food security programs.

City public works director Adam Wason reminded Deckard and Karon several times that their job was not to consider pros and cons of the already-approved monolith project, but to authorize closing the right of way.

Deckard acknowledged that, then made the motion to table.

Jane Goodman said she often walks in the park and appreciates the birds and waterfowl. She said locating the monolith elsewhere "would be wonderful."

Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington, Indiana, plan to build monolith in park outrages citizens