Proposal suggests turning Elm Heights neighborhood into historical district

The Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission will consider a proposal to turn the Elm Heights neighborhood into an historic preservation district during their meeting today.

The Elm Heights neighborhood is located south of campus, with South Jordan and South Woodlawn avenues to the east and west and East Third Street and East Maxwell Lane to the north and south.

It contains 263 properties, many of which include historically significant architectural styles that are no longer widely used. Some of the architectural styles featured in the neighborhood include Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Spanish Colonial and
Chateauesque.

The historic preservation district designation would protect the properties from alteration and require city approval for demolition or significant changes to be made to the properties.

The designation will also have to be approved by the city council and the mayor before it becomes official.

The commission has classified properties within the proposed district as “outstanding,” “notable,” “contributing” and “non-contributing.”

Eighty-nine percent of the properties in the proposed district are classified as being at least at the “contributing” level, and the proportion of properties deemed “very significant” by the commission is much higher than any of Bloomington’s existing historic preservation districts.

It was also noted in the commission’s legislative packet that Elm Heights is “Bloomington’s best example of the architecture of the early twentieth century neighborhood reflecting the more affluent business and academic classes.”

The architectural details of the properties in the proposed district are “irreplaceable,” in danger of loss and in need of protection from the city, the commission’s packet indicated.

— Zach Ammerman