Construction work is underway that City of Bloomington officials hope will be transformational and create a downtown destination.
Crews began construction last week on Stage 1 of Phase 1 of the city's downtown streetscape (aka Downtown for Everyone) initiative. The 300-600 blocks of North Main Street will be redone through Phase 1, across four stages, ending in 2027. The Phase 1 cost is expected to be $13.2 million.
“When this is all done, you will have a completely new Main Street between Jefferson and Locust streets,” said Senior Deputy City Manager Billy Tyus. “We are recreating our downtown.”
The work now underway is concentrated in the 600 block of North Main Street, right where it hits East Street as it curves in front of the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts [BCPA]. The plaza in that area will be reimagined, including a lighted ring hovering above a new outdoor activity/performance space.
“What is happening now is Stage 1 of Phase 1, which is to completely rebuild the project area,” Tyus said.
The construction will pause Dec. 1, allowing for a break for winter, and continue with Stage II of Phase I one block to the south in spring 2026. The work will proceed further south, with the fourth and final stage expected to be finished in spring 2027.
The work is expected to be disruptive to downtown businesses, visitors and residents, as many of downtown's small businesses rely on daily traffic.
But Tyus said crews are trying to keep disruptions to a minimum.
“It’s going to be tough for people, but we're managing it. We're doing it," he said. "We're looking for alternative places to park. We've identified some places that, while this plaza is torn up, people can park. So right across the street near the BCPA, we've leased parking spaces so that people who would typically park in front of the buildings in the area now being worked on can park right across the street. We're identifying other private parking lots that would allow for public parking.
“Transition is hard, change is hard, but we are managing it,” Tyus said. “It will definitely be for the better once we’re done.”
Across all phases of the streetscape project, Tyus said there would be new lighting, landscaping, pavers, furniture and furnishings, with ample spaces for live music.
“We’ve always had a great downtown. This is going to build upon that and bring a whole new look, feel, and energy to our town,” Tyus said.
Community members can participate online in a virtual tour of the downtown’s future state. What they won’t see is the much-needed underground infrastructure work that's also part of the project. Indeed, 76% of Phase 1 work will be infrastructure-related, Tyus said.
"That would be new sewers and drainage, new water lines, new fiber conduit. It'll be new things ... that people don't necessarily see and may not excite people, but they are critical to our downtown and to our community," he said, adding Bloomington community members had a large voice in how the streetscape project came together.
“We had public meetings, we went to people, we had a strong online presence where people could vote on different concepts,” Tyus said. “We wanted to make sure we were in line with what people wanted to see downtown.”
