Bloomington leaders pushing to establish 'Stadium District' with momentum and excitement around IU football

NOTE: This news article featuring Senior Director of Government & Community Relations, Christopher Emge, was originally published by WTHR Channel 13 by Ashton Hackman on Friday, September 12th, 2025.

Dubbed the "Stadium District," the Greater Bloomington Chamer of Commerce is working alongside the city of Bloomington to make it a reality.

Hoosier football fans are in full swing for another season and still hyped up after a historic 2024 season for Indiana. 
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City leaders are building off that excitement, launching a new district in the city at the area around Walnut Street, the SR 45/46 bypass, and 17th Street on the north end of Bloomington as visitors enter town from the north.

Dubbed the "Stadium District," the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce is working alongside the city of Bloomington to make it a reality.

"It's a signal that Bloomington is open for business," said Christopher Emge, senior director of government and community relations. "We want, in five years, not to even recognize the Stadium District as something that's really amazing unto itself, that has a synergy with the trades district and the Hopewell neighborhood, all of this coming together to make Bloomington the jewel that it is in Indiana."

The district isn't just a name, Emge said, it's an identity.
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"That is a place where many people enter into Bloomington, and it's a bastion of IU athletics that we want to harness within that Stadium District to market it and then really just develop in a way where there's private investment pushing funds forward," Emge said.

Credit: WTHR

Having a named district, Emge said, will promote economic growth, business investment, and encourage tourism. The district could also transform alcohol permitting, such as a "designated outdoor refreshment area," or DORA.

In recent years, the stretch of the city saw periods of growth and transformations: a new city entrance sign and several new massive student housing buildings.

"The historic season last year (is) really pushing momentum in that area," Emge said. "The administration here has been really pro-growth and looking to open business up here and get us going in the right direction."

Tailgating Hoosier fans, including IU junior James Mossburg, whose freshman year saw IU football at arguably one of it's lowest points, embodies that excitement, saying he's all in on the Hoosiers.

"I'm hoping we're going to get a playoff win this year," Mossburg said. "I'm hoping Curt Cignetti is going to lead us to a great season, I mean that's what we're all hoping for."

City leaders will need to jump through bureaucratic hoops before it becomes a reality. The Bloomington Chamber of Commerce expects to have a more definitive timeline in the next few weeks.