This classification would prevent buildings in the area from being demolished or significantly altered. The area in question stretches from East Sixth Street to East Fourth Street and from Gentry Street to the east side of South Walnut Street. It includes the Buskirk-Chumley Theater as well as the courthouse.
The area has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1990, so the idea of it being historic is not new. The local designation, however, will give added protections to the area’s appearance.
“I think people understand that it’s really the time to do this,” Nancy Hiestand, the Bloomington housing and neighborhood development program manager, said. “Right now we have some protection, but there are choices that individual owners might make on the square to modify their buildings that would damage the historical context downtown.”
Since the city council drafted a resolution in May to ask the department to consider the new classification, city officials have been working with local building owners to determine guidelines for taking care of the buildings without significantly changing their appearances.
“What I think most of the business owners and building owners are saying is that the historic fabric that’s there is an asset to their businesses, and they want to protect it,” Hiestand said. “We feared that people would just think it was terrible regulation, but they haven’t responded that way at all.”
After they agree with building owners on these guidelines, city officials must attend two hearings before ?presenting the idea to common council. Hiestand estimated the law will pass in August or September.
Many of the buildings on the square were built with limestone in the early 20th century. Many of the others started as brick and then were later covered with limestone.
“We’re like other communities in that we built a lot of limestone buildings in the decade or so after the turn of the century, but we’re unlike them in that we actually produced the limestone that built them,” Hiestand said.
She noted that she has been pleasantly surprised by the positive reaction from the community. She said she hopes the new law will allow the square to look the same forever.
“It’s an economic development tool,” she said. “Preserving the history around the square is helpful to the retail environment and to all the people who enjoy visiting Bloomington.”
