Plans for Jill's House advance

Jill's House is almost a reality.\nAfter setbacks in recent years, the long-labored-over residence for patients undergoing cancer therapy in Bloomington moved one step closer to being realized. Wednesday night, the Bloomington City Council voted unanimously to recommend a zoning change allowing the residence to be built.\nThe recommended ordinance rezones approximately 10.6 acres at 2520 N. Dunn St., allowing for the development of the 20-bed Jill's House. A 60-bed assisted care living facility to be added to the adjacent Meadowood retirement community and nine retirement condos will also be added to Meadowood.\nThe proposed location for Jill's House was chosen in part because Meadowood offered the land but also because of its proximity to the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute, the cancer treatment center where Jill's House residents will undergo the six-to-eight-week outpatient therapy.\nMore than 60 people packed the council chambers to show support for the zoning change.\nWhile most of those assembled were residents of Meadowood, representatives from Jill's House and the MPRI were also present and offered emotional personal testimonies substantiating the need for Jill's House.\nPeg Howard, the president of Jill's House, spoke of the hardship she and her family faced when her son was diagnosed with cancer 36 years ago. Like many people seeking special treatment for cancer, she had to leave her home. She recalled the misery of having to deal with a dying son while living in a hotel room and fending for herself in a strange city.\n"I cannot tell you the fear and the loneliness I felt during that time," Howard said. "How would you feel if your wife was hundreds of miles away with a child that was dying? Put yourself in their shoes, and help us get this house built as soon as possible."\nJason Dixon, a counselor at MPRI, shared the suffering he and his wife faced when their infant daughter was diagnosed with cancer. He spoke of the differences between the comfortable environment of Jill's House and the sterility of hospitals and hotel rooms.\n"Bloomington has world-class medical facilities, but we as a community have to be committed to treating people, not just diseases," Dixon said. "MPRI does its best to treat body, mind and spirit, and building Jill's House is another way that we can treat that wholeness of person."\nEnvironmental concerns were voiced as impediments to the development. In the past, development proposals for the area have been denied because the site lies within the Griffy Lake watershed, rated by the city as environmentally sensitive.\nThe city's Environmental Commission stated that it is not generally in favor of additional development in the Lake Griffy watershed unless the new land use will protect the lake at the same or higher level than the existing use, while the city's Growth Policies Plan makes an exception to the environmental impact if the development is beneficial to the community.\nThe developers have agreed to many environmental protection measures including drainage manipulation, erosion control measures, tree and greenspace preservation and the use of native vegetation only.\n"We have balanced the environmental mitigation issues with the public benefit of this project, and I feel that we struck a balance that will work well for this community," Councilman Chris Gaal said.\nThe City Council will vote on the ordinance next Wednesday.