Final decision on Bloomington gateway 'monolith' may come Tuesday

Want to weigh in on Bloomington's planned gateway tower? Tuesday evening might be your last chance.

The city plans to install the 40-foot-tall metal tower — derided on social media as a "monolith" and, more crudely, as "knobelisk" — in Miller-Showers Park to welcome people to Bloomington.

The city had announced in early September that it planned to bring a “monolith-style gateway” to the north end of Miller-Showers Park to celebrate Bloomington’s bicentennial.

Mayor John Hamilton said the gateway would “proudly welcome residents and visitors to Bloomington and also give them a final image before they leave.” He called the tower a “nod to our past and a gift to the future.”

However, the project’s design and cost — more than $1 million — have prompted some backlash.

"With all of the broken roads, broken infrastructure, homelessness and people in need, they choose to waste $1 million tax dollars on a pretentious sign," Bloomington resident Barry Taylor said. "The local government is fully disconnected from the needs of the public they serve."

He suggested that Hamilton should have considered other uses for the money. "How about actually doing something to help the homeless besides moving them out of view?" Taylor asked. "This ridiculous spending ... is showing extreme disrespect."

In letters to The Herald-Times, residents have called the planned installation “cheesy,” “devoid of depth and warmth” and a “vanity project.” Other writers raised concerns about light pollution and likely negative consequences for wildlife, especially migratory birds.

On Facebook, someone organized a group called “All Hail the Monolith,” members of which include frequent Hamilton critics such as Bloomington City Council members Susan Sandberg and Dave Rollo and police union President Paul Post.

Local artist and former city council candidate Joe Lee in a cartoon shared on Facebook said the planned installation “values consultants over constituents.”

The project initially was approved by the city council in 2018, but plans were delayed by the pandemic.

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Resolution 18-23 paved the way

It was Halloween night 2018 when Bloomington city council members approved $3 million in bonds to fund projects for the city's bicentennial that year.

Of that, $1.25 million was earmarked for "entryway beautification, tree planting, landscaping and related improvements at the entryways to the city," according to Resolution 18-23.

The project "applies to four or more entryways to the city, and to design, lighting, landscaping, signage and tree planting," the meeting agenda said.

Written minutes from the meeting show how the gateway project came about.

As the meeting began, Mayor John Hamilton explained how a portion of the bicentennial bond funds would be used to create "fitting entryways."

He spoke about the city's need for jobs, housing and services to enhance Bloomington's quality of life and said the bond projects would accomplish that, creating a more "sustainable community."

When council member Isabel Piedmont-Smith asked what the city had in mind for the entryway, Dave Williams, from the parks and recreation department, said they had no detailed plans but "knew what conceptual elements they would like."

Mary Catherine Carmichael, Hamilton's communications director at that time, explained the city was proposing "a design that would present a sense of place for Bloomington."

Piedmont-Smith voted to approve the bonds, even though she didn't support the entryways project, "stating that Bloomington already had unique architecture," the meeting minutes said. Councilman Andy Ruff agreed with her but voted yes for the bonds anyway.

No one from the public spoke on the issue. Resolution 18-23 passed 7-1, with Steve Volan casting the lone no vote.

Parks board OK'd contracts

During a city parks board meeting on May 16 this year, members approved paying nearly $400,000 to Indianapolis metal fabricator bo-mar Industries for a "gateway monolith" art element.

The contract was for the "fabrication of an approximate 41-foot-tall monolith art piece at the northern end of Miller-Showers Park. The art piece will serve as a gateway to Bloomington, will be built primarily out of powder-coated aluminum, and will be lit internally through 13 color-controllable LED light zones, which will shine through acrylic and perforated aluminum."

Two months later, during a special afternoon meeting, the parks board approved paying $575,000 to Reed and Sons for site work and improvements for the project.

"The site would require grading, removal of trees, sidewalk installation, repairs and upgrades to the pedestrian island, paving fixes, foundation and landscaping."

Final decision looms

The final administrative decision on the future of the tower likely will be made Tuesday evening by the Bloomington Board of Public Works, which has been asked to approve the use of right-of-ways so the work can begin.

The board has twice postponed its decision, and the dynamics have recently changed.

The board normally has three members, but in the two most recent meetings had only two, with members Kyla Cox Deckard and Elizabeth Karon being deadlocked on how to proceed — in spite of admonitions from Public Works Director Adam Wason that they were to discuss only whether to authorize the right-of-way — not the pros and cons of the already approved gateway project.

An unexpected twist: Bloomington residents upset with plan to build monolith in Miller-Showers Park

In Tuesday’s meeting, however, a third member, Jane Kupersmith, is expected to weigh in and break the tie. All three members are appointed by Hamilton.

Kupersmith is the co-owner and co-founder of Hopscotch Coffee, former assistant director for small business development for the city and current executive director of CDFI Friendly Bloomington, a nonprofit that, according to its website, aims to “to increase flexible and affordable financing for businesses, nonprofits, affordable housing, and community projects in Bloomington.”

The board of works will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in city council chambers at City Hall, 401 N. Morton St. You can find an agenda and zoom link here: tinyurl.com/5n6z93nw.

Tim Street, operations and development division director for the city’s parks department, said if the board of works on Tuesday approves the right-of-way closure, work at the site should begin “shortly thereafter” — though the gateway itself wouldn’t be installed until “late this year.”

Gateway art in another Bloomington

Tim Busse is mayor of Bloomington, Minnesota, a town of 90,000 that's much like the southern Indiana Bloomington.

In 2019, the city decided to create an artistic entryway to the city's South Loop. New York artist Donald Lipski decided a bird would be a fitting thing, since the city borders a wildlife refuge that hosts more than 200 species of birds.

An online community vote was held; of 10 birds presented, the American goldfinch won out. Lipski designed a 12-foot-tall replica that was manufactured in Wisconsin out of steel and fiberglass, then painted the brightest yellow.

The sculpture was delivered on a trailer pulled by an SUV and installed on a 20-foot-high South Loop sign on the corner of Old Shakopee Road and Killebrew Drive. The birds' talons grip the "H" in the word "SOUTH."

Busse said the songbird sculpture represents his arts community better than an installment such as the lighted monolith coming to Bloomington, Indiana.

He found a picture of the monolith online Friday afternoon. "I'm looking at it right now," he said during a phone interview. "It, well, it definitely says 'Bloomington.'"

Busse said his Bloomington recently contemplated adding a piece of gateway art on a new bridge connecting the city to a town to the south, then decided not to.

"We wondered; do we need something to tell drivers when they enter Bloomington crossing the river? Nothing seemed to say 'Bloomington' other than the word itself, so we took a pass."

If Bloomington, Indiana opts to not install the monolith, would his city be interested in the tower? "We don't need a giant monolith," Busse said.  "We have our goldfinch."

Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com. Laura Lane can be reached at llane@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Final decision on Bloomington gateway 'monolith' may be coming Tuesday