Bloomington to expand greenspace

An enthusiastic Mayor Mark Kruzan announced 6.15 acres of land will be added to Bloomington’s greenspace during a press conference Wednesday morning near Lower Cascades Park.

“The greenspace beautifies Bloomington, cleans the air and allows people to relax,” Kruzan said.

The additional greenspace is located near Lower Cascades Park on Old State Road 37. The land will connect the Cascades baseball diamonds to the Lower Cascades Park. Previously the space was the Cascades Trailer Park and the old stone mill.

The City of Bloomington cannot officially purchase the land until it is approved by the Parks Board and the Bloomington City Council at the Sept. 17 city council meeting with the final vote taken Oct. 1.

The total cost of the purchase, funded by the Parks Greenspace Acquisition Fund, is $510,000. The purchase of the trailer park was $374,000 and the stone mill $136,000.  
The property is littered with construction equipment, but the current owners are working to clean the area.

“The construction mess is being recycled to Bloomington Brewing Company and the other parts are going to be taken to the Limestone Museum,“ said Daniel Lopez, communications director for the Office of the Mayor.

Kruzan was pleased that very little of the cleanup process will go to waste. Preserving greenspace in Bloomington is important to the community, he said. 

The purchase of this land will be the 11th property the City of Bloomington has purchased since 2004 for protected greenspace. Those 11 properties will total more than 123 acres.

“The purchase of this land area is unique because it was once an industrial land area,” said Kelly Boatman, Environmental Commission president. “Since 1993 Bloomington has lost an average of 160 acres of greenspace per year. Given the rate of greenspace loss, the city of Bloomington should be commended.”

Kruzan said sustainability of greenspace is at the forefront right now in Bloomington.
“The purchase of this parcel of land is the green thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do and it’s the strategic thing to do,” Kruzan said.

City Council member Brad Wisler briefly spoke at the press conference about the importance of parks in Bloomington.

“What makes Bloomington great is not only its people but that we have many opportunities to truly be neighbors and be a community because we have so many parks,” he said.

Kruzan said community members have the responsibility and the opportunity to take care of the land for future generations.

“We’re planting more than double the number of trees we normally plant this year,” he said. “You have to have the attitude of what’s next to keep expanding and get to where we are now with our greenspace.”