The City of Bloomington's Trades District parking garage, located near 10th Street and the B-Line, is opening on Saturday, April 17 with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. 

The new structure has 350 spaces with ground-floor commercial/retail space. It includes a public art installation, Aurora Almanac, by artist Esteban Garcia Bravo.

Click here to learn more about the Trades District garage.

Christopher Emge, principal of the Success School at the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, was appointed this month to the City of Bloomington Parking Commission. 

He was appointed by Mayor John Hamilton for a term ending Jan. 31, 2022.

The Chamber's Success School, formerly known as the Franklin Initiative, acts as the connection between the business community and the education community. Find out more about the Success School here.

The City of Bloomington is offering free Election Day parking on its downtown metered spots and garages. City offices will be closed.

On Tuesday, Nov. 3, polls are open from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m.  Go to the Indiana Voter Portal to find your polling location.

​Update: Find Monroe County election results here. Statewide results will be posted on the Indiana Election Division results site.

The City of Bloomington is implementing parking via the ParkMobile app, allowing people to find, reserve, and pay for parking at over 150 spots in two app-only parking zones in Bloomington. 

The app will be activated later this month for parking at these locations, which previously were free: 
 

• North Walnut Grove from East 10th to East Cottage Grove, and along East Cottage Grove from North Walnut Grove to North Woodlawn 
• North Walnut between 11th and 17th  streets and North College Avenue between 11th and 17th streets 

 
More information about using the app is available at  Park Mobile Pay By Phone FAQs. The app-only zones are available to those without a smartphone by calling the number listed at the Pay By Phone sign (1-877-727-5007) and following instructions to pay by credit card.  

Several changes designed to support downtown businesses will be extended by the City of Bloomington through the end of 2020. These include:

• Weekend closures of Kirkwood Avenue in the blocks from Indiana to Grant and Washington to Walnut
• Designated pickup/drop-off (PUDO) parking spots
• "Parklets" – a program to convert parking spaces into additional spots for outdoor dining

Previously, these initiatives were set to expire on Sept. 30.

The PUDO zones and parklets will be extended by the Bloomington Department of Public Works, and the weekend closures of Kirkwood will go before the Bloomington Council at an upcoming meeting in September, according to city staff.

Businesses that are interested in the parklet program can apply online here. More information is available on the city's business resource page, or contact Kaisa Goodman at kaisa.goodman@bloomington.in.gov.

​The City of Bloomington has started a pilot program to convert parking spaces into additional spots for outdoor dining in the downtown area. Restaurants that want to create these “parklets” can apply to the city, which will then install barriers to protect the seating area.
 
Businesses can apply online here. More information is available on the city's business resource page, or contact Kaisa Goodman at kaisa.goodman@bloomington.in.gov.

The program will be available at least through Sept. 30.

The City of Bloomington has designed 54 parking spots throughout downtown as free 15-minute pick-up/drop-off (PUDO) locations for restaurants and merchants. The intent is to support the curbside pick-up model that many businesses are using during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Click here for an interactive map of the PUDO spaces. 

This pilot project, which starts Aug. 1, has been approved by the city's Board of Public Works through Sept. 30. After that, it could be extended via temporary order or city council vote.

​The city also announced that starting Aug. 1, enforcement of metered parking spaces will begin again from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.  The city has been offering two free hours of metered parking since March.

The Bloomington Redevelopment Commission gave approval on June 1 for Dimension Mill to draw circles on the grass near its building to help encourage physical distancing, though one commissioner called the idea "silliness taken to the extreme."

RDC members also got updates on parking garages in the Trades District, where the Mill is located, and at 4th & Walnut. The Trades District garage is under construction, and the city plans to install a webcam there to monitor progress. Alex Crowley, the city's director of economic & sustainable development, described the project as on time and on budget.

For the 4th Street garage, F.A. Wilhelm Construction – the firm hired by the city as construction manager – is reviewing bids received for that project's first phase and will likely be awarded this week. Bids are currently being accepted for the construction phase. This project, which is expected to be completed in late 2020, will also have a webcam filming the site. 

Regarding the Mill's request, Crowley said that since the RDC owns the vacant land in the Trades District, the co-working nonprofit was seeking permission to mark circles on the grass to measure physical distancing in this COVID-19 climate. The commission ultimately approved the request, with dissent from David Walter. Walter said the area is public and anyone can be there, regardless of whether they practice social distancing. It's a matter of personal responsibility, he said.

Watch the full June 1, 2020 RDC meeting here.

Work will start later this year on a redesigned 4th St. garage, following approval of required variances by the Bloomington Board of Zoning Appeals. It will be built on the existing footprint with 7 stories, 537 spaces and ground floor commercial space. The estimated completion date is August 2021.

The city also has dropped its appeal in the eminent domain lawsuit it filed to take the JuanSells.com building at the south end of the block. 

The variances granted by the BZA at its March 19 meeting included allowing the parking structure’s entrance driveway to be wider than would ordinarily be allowed under city code, and allowing the driveway to be closer to Walnut Street than the code allows.

The downtown garage was closed in late 2018 because of structural flaws. It was subsequently demolished last year. ​