The city of Bloomington has scheduled an open house to get community feedback on a new downtown streetscape plan.
City officials say they plan to share some ideas for how to transform downtown.
"This is going to be a generational project if approved," Deputy City Manager Billy Tyus said in an interview on WGLT's Sound Ideas. "It's going to be about more than beautification if approved. It will be about creating activity spaces for people to come downtown."
The city hired a Springfield consulting firm last year to collect data and come up with ways to improve walkability, parking, sidewalks, lighting and other downtown features. A video the city has posted at DowntownforEveryone.com suggests the city plans to redesign the square around the McLean County Museum of History.
"The next step is to go from concepts to more specific ideas as to what this could become," Tyus said, adding the city wants people to weigh in on whether the city should consider more modern style concepts or stay with more historical designs, or settle on a hybrid of the two.
The open house will be from 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts.
City Manager Tim Gleason has said the new streetscape could cost $25 million to $30 million. He has said funding could come from several sources, including a possible Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district for the downtown. A TIF district is a redevelopment tool used to help struggling areas. It diverts new taxes generated by an increase in property values back into the redevelopment area.
Gleason said the city may also seek state and federal stimulus funding and grants.
