Downtown Bloomington

Specs Around Town will soon be under new ownership. Julie Kubsch is retiring and has sold the boutique eyewear store to Jenna Bixby-Nehl, who will take over Jan. 6.

Winter weather complicates an already scarce parking situation in Downtown Bloomington. The Market Street parking deck has closed. And the Front and Center block has yet to finish demolition and become surface parking. That’s likely to become available sometime next spring.

The Downtown Bloomington post office has abruptly closed three weeks ahead of schedule, leaving downtown merchants and residents without access to its facility ahead of the postal service’s busiest week of the year.

“We are less looking for … a community hub. We are more sticking to the knitting and providing top-notch transportation services at that nice location right in the buckle,” said Connect Transit board chair Julie Hile.

Connect Transit had already secured $18 million in state and federal funding for the center, but its costs have risen over time, leaving transit officials to pursue additional revenue or consider scaling back the project.

It has been many decades since Downtown Bloomington was the premier destination for shoppers in the community. There was a time, though, when there were four large department stores downtown.

A developer working to bring the former State Farm building back to life in Downtown Bloomington has plans to revive another nearby historic property, too.

Ambrose is one of four people who spearheaded a coordinated open-studio walk in downtown Bloomington in 2000, then called the "Around the Corner Art Group" because of where their studios were situated.

Demolition began Tuesday on the Front N Center building in Downtown Bloomington. The property will initially become a parking lot, with hopes for redevelopment later.

Strong Towns Blono leaders have researched several design ideas for how to develop the south end of Downtown Bloomington, especially in rebuilding on the soon-to-be demolished Front N Center building site.