Bros before houses

Miley Cyrus isn’t the only one coming in like a wrecking ball.

The IU Foundation wants to expand the Maurer School of Law, and in doing so, it will demolish Phi Gamma Delta’s house on Third Street.

The saying “bros before hoes” seems applicable to the way the Foundation is handling the situation — except in this case, the hoes are historic houses.

The Foundation plans to move the fraternity, commonly known as Fiji, to a property on Eighth Street and Woodlawn Avenue in the historic University Courts district.

There are 15 buildings within one block of the proposed site that are on the State Register of Historic Places.

Six houses on the National Register of Historic Places would be demolished to make room for Fiji’s new frat castle.

Such historic structures and districts are regulated by the Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission.

Property owners in historic districts must have any exterior changes approved by the Commission.

IU, however, is somehow exempt from this requirement and thus it can destroy any property it deems unnecessary.

Historic preservation is not just about keeping buildings around for the sake of keeping them around but a proven method of economic development.

For example, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has used its Main Street program to bolster economies of communities nationwide for the last three decades.

The IDS Editorial Board has a hard time believing that demolishing these houses and destroying the character of the University Courts district is the only option for the IU Foundation.

It seems that this plan is a power play from Foundation members to express IU’s omnipotence over the town it calls home.

Bloomington is not designed to operate with school and community segregation.

The city of Bloomington and IU must work in tandem in order to foster a congruent community between the two entities.

This includes respecting these historic properties.

Even on a larger scale, a cohabitation of the space not only makes sense but is the clear choice.

Bloomington’s major highways diverge at 17th Street, allowing the downtown area to remain walkable and accessible from much of the surrounding area, including academic buildings and residence halls.

Sure, IU’s campus is signified by the Sample Gates, but the design of the town and the campus hardly suggest a gated boundary between the two.

The residential houses in University Courts mingle with IU offices and even a residence hall.

IU and Bloomington remain two communities that occupy a common space. One foster the other’s personality and vice versa.

Dropping a fraternity house into this environment will completely change the character of this historic district, further reinforcing a differentiation between what belongs to
students and what belongs to Bloomington.

­— opinion@idsnews.com
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