Council establishes historic district, despite controversy

The Bloomington City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Wednesday establishing the University Courts Historic District, despite conflict with the IU Foundation.

IU previously announced plans to demolish six houses in the neighborhood to make room for the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, otherwise known as FIJI.

The fraternity would exchange the land of the current FIJI house on Third Street for the neighborhood property.

The FIJIs would be responsible for raising money to build a new house on the property at the corner of Woodlawn Avenue and Eighth Street.

The ordinance passed Wednesday will not be binding for IU because the University is a state institution and is therfore not required to obtain a certificate of appropriateness from the city before demolishing property it owns in the neighborhood.

However, supporters of the ordinance hope the legislation will convince IU to reconsider its plans.

“I don’t think it’s a futile effort,” said Council Member Dave Rollo. “I’m hoping IU will consider what it’s doing. They may ask themselves — I hope they do — what Herman Wells would do.”

At their last discussion Feb. 26, the council recommended approval of the ordinance based on the neighborhood’s historic and architectural significance to Bloomington, according to a legislative packet.

The Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission recommended historic district status for University Courts because it exemplifies “the cultural, political, economic, social or historic heritage of the community,” according to the packet.

The commission also found the district was architecturally worthy of historic status based on a number of criteria including its location, style and display of an era of history.

During the meeting, Nancy Hiestand, program manager of Housing and Neighborhood Development, said the brick streets were already recognized as locally historic in
2004. She also said University Courts has been in the state register since 1992 and the national register since 2007.

The area includes 65 properties, 38 of which are owned by IU, and one church. Eleven of these structures are outstanding, nine notable and 41 contributing. Council Member
Martin Spechler said about 60 percent of the properties could be demolished by IU if the university decided to do so.

When asked about the level of significance of University Courts in comparison to other districts, Hiestand said it, along with Elm Heights neighborhood, are the two most important districts.

Elizabeth Cox-Ash, a Bloomington local, said the ordinance is vital to the protection of the neighborhood and it is not only her wish, but the wish of the community to see it passed.

“The community wants this maintained, preserved and not torn down,” Cox-Ash said.
“There are other places where the University could put a fraternity where they’re not tearing down some of its history as well as the community’s history.” 

Brandt Downey, another Bloomington local, does not think the ordinance will do any good in stopping IU from moving forward with its original plan.

“We know that if IU wanted to take a bulldozer on Woodlawn and go west on that block tonight, they could,” Downey said. “You can’t stop them. This ordinance will not stop them from tearing down those houses.

“They will avoid it, they will ignore it and they will tear down those six houses and any other of those houses over there without any reference to this at all.”

Council Member Susan Sandberg said she is not under the illusion that the ordinance will persuade IU of anything.

However, it may cause the university to rethink the fraternity house’s location.

She said the University will be under a lot of scrutiny from neighbors with noise and trash complaints.

Council Member Stephan Volan suggested the FIJI house be built in place of the tennis courts across from the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority house.

“The decisions that IU makes, simply put, are arbitrary,” Volan said.

“If this event tonight, this legislation, has no other effect than to call attention to the arbitrariness of the decisions made by IU’s land use and planning, then it’s done more than we’ve done before.”