Fourth Street garage arguments revived

March 28-- Mar. 28--Deliberation on the future of the Fourth Street garage came back to life Wednesday as the Bloomington City Council decided to once again weigh the economic and environmental sustainability of rebuilding the crumbling structure.

Three months ago, the city council decided to repair the garage for another five years of use at a cost of $1.1 million. When engineers found the garage's condition had worsened so much so that it would cost more than $1.4 million to do those repairs, council President Dave Rollo reconvened the council to reconsider issuing an $18.5 million bond to build a new, larger garage.

Members of the public generally subscribed to one of two philosophies about increased parking: either it incentivizes behaviors that further climate change, or it's a critical factor in the downtown's continued economic vitality.

"I think there's middle ground," council member Jim Sims said. "I think there are yes and no beliefs, I think there are yes and no facts, but I don't think as a community there is a yes or no answer to this."

The city closed the current 352-space parking garage at the beginning of this year after a structural engineer deemed the Fourth Street garage had deteriorated so much that it had become a safety hazard. While a design has not been approved, Bloomington Deputy Mayor Mick Renneisen said there are estimates on how tall a new structure might be.

He said if the city is able to purchase an adjacent vacant building at 222 S. Walnut St., the new garage city officials are considering likely would be 68 feet tall with 544 spaces. Without that property, he said, officials favor a structure 78 feet tall with 527 spaces.

Geoff McKim, a member of the Monroe County Council who spoke during public comment, applauded the fact that climate change was at the forefront of the discussion before saying that a larger garage in the downtown would help address climate change by fostering a tight-knit and resilient downtown economy.

"Compact urban form is our ally as we try to address climate change," McKim said. "More compact, urban spaces are greener spaces."

Daniel Bingham, a District 2 city council candidate, argued that simply converting to electric cars wouldn't be enough to avoid the catastrophic consequence brought on by climate change. He said bike and public transit infrastructure was a cheaper, better alternative.

"The Midwest is under water right now. People are dead. Farms are destroyed," Bingham said. "We can't keep driving at these rates."

Jim Murphy, president of CFC Properties, said insufficient parking will have a negative impact on the downtown and the community at large.

"If we just repair it, we are simply kicking the can down the road and spending a lot of money in the process to create uncertainty for the downtown's users," he said.

Matt Flaherty, an at-large candidate for city council, took issue with a larger parking garage that would be subsidized by the public. If the city were to issue the $18.5 million bond at a 6 percent interest rate over 22 years, the total cost of that bond would be paid for by city garage revenues and tax increment finance revenues from downtown businesses.

"Members of the business community have said that they're willing to pay the actual, unsubsidized cost of parking. If that's the case, let the private developers do it," Flaherty said.

Several city council members, including Allison Chopra and Steve Volan, took issue with the fact that the council was even hearing the matter again. After noting that she isn't running for re-election, Chopra said voting for the bond is the politically easy thing to do.

"I honestly think this is up for a vote close to an election for another reason," Chopra said.

Council member Isabel Piedmont-Smith said climate change is an emergency and a threat to humankind's continued existence on the planet. She then outlined her priorities.

"I think we need to fast-track transportation demand management," she said. "This repair option will get that garage back online by August. It will be tough, but it will be tough for a whole hell of a lot longer if we rebuild the garage."

Renneisen estimated that the repair option would bring the parking structure back online by August, and a complete rebuild wouldn't bring any parking back into the mix until late 2020.

"I was sold from the beginning that the replacement option was the wiser course, with regards to being fiscally responsible," council member Susan Sandberg said. "There are extended costs, and it seems even less practical or pragmatic to me to put a Band-Aid on something that needs a surgical repair."

Three council members cast a preliminary vote in favor of issuing the bond to rebuild the garage, two voted against doing so and three abstained. The council could make a decision with an official vote at its next meeting, on April 3.

Correction

A previous version of this story incorrectly reported how the council voted. We apologize for this error.

Contact Kurt Christian at 812-331-4350 or [email protected].

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