The Bloomington City Council voted 8-0 on Monday in favor of a public improvement partnership between the city and Lifelong Access that aims to boost downtown parking with the acquisition of lots near the former Pantagraph building at 301 W. Washington St.
Lifelong Access is in the process of converting the former newspaper building into a center where the nonprofit will provide services for youth, adults and people with disabilities. It’s part of a services partnership with Chestnut Health Services and the regional alternative school.
“As we started to talk about this, we started to think about how do we find parking in the area that could both accomplish our overall parking needs, that could help Lifelong Access with their project,” said senior deputy city manager Billy Tyus.
“We knew that they would have to redevelop a parking lot to the north of the former Pantagraph building. We also knew that we needed parking. We also knew that, when the Market Street garage closed, that people had started to park in that lot anyway.”
Development of the lot will cost about $1.1 million, and contribute to other downtown parking additions that are expected to add more than 200 public spaces. It’s a shift from an initial concept that would have seen a parking structure built to go along with a Connect Transit transfer station.
“Ultimately, it got to the point where the design was too costly, frankly, with ... the estimates of cost,” said Tyus. “The estimates came back to build the transfer station and to get 205 parking spaces at roughly $36 million. Of that, $12.6 million was going to be the cost to the city. Honestly, it wasn’t something that we could afford.”
In the agreement with Lifelong Access, Bloomington will purchase a lot immediately north of the building and build a new 77-space public lot. In turn, the city will lease a 43-space lot at the former Elks Lodge along Madison to Lifelong Access on a 99-year term.
Additionally, Bloomington will construct a new 40-space lot on two parcels across Monroe Street, and reconfigure Roosevelt Avenue to one-way traffic while adding 20 angled spaces for Lifelong Access.
