BLOOMINGTON — The former Bloomington Hospital has waited for its prescription after the last patients were moved out in late 2021. The patience is paying off since dirt is now moving on the property.
The site of the hospital, now known as the Hopewell neighborhood, could feature as many as 175 new affordable housing units in its first phase. Hopewell's initial project to renovate the historic administration into housing could open by next summer.
"I know we need some affordable housing," said Bloomington resident Ron Maines, who was bicycling past Hopewell on the nearby B-Line trail. "In a college town, sometimes prices are a little out of hand for the average folks to be able to live."
Before the new housing can go up, contractors have to go down into the ground for infrastructure improvements.
"We're adding a new storm structure system and water lines down the future Jackson Street," said city engineer Zac Rogers. "Being in Bloomington, we have a lot of limestone, too. We have the storm crew hammering out rock right now."
The infrastructure work will also include adding a protected bike lane on West 2nd Street to connect the B-Line Trail with Bloomfield Road, which Maines is enthusiastic to ride when it is built.
"There's really not a safe route when you want to go from downtown and head west so that would be spectacular," Maines said.
The work will result in short road closures around the construction site throughout the fall, including:
- Closing West 2nd Street between the B-Line Trail and Rogers Street between Sept. 22 and Oct. 8
- Closing the intersection of West 2nd Street and Rogers Street on Oct. 8 and Oct. 9
- Closing West 1st Street south of the former hospital site in early October
Maines said the orange cones and construction are a welcome sight for a place that means so much to him.
"I worked in HR here and my wife worked in the radiology department," Maines said. "As an old-timer, it was hard to see the hospital come down, but it was falling behind the times and to see that land cleared and to finally start to see some action, that's a great thing."
-
Takuma Sato avoids collision with a fox lap during Indy 500 testing
Two-time Indy 500 champ Takuma Sato barely avoided a collision with a fox when the animal ran across the track on Wednesday.
Suspect in custody following incident at Jay County Sheriff's Office
Officials from the Jay County Sheriff's Office said no officers were seriously injured and a suspect is in custody following an incident that happened at the Sheriff's Office on Wednesday afternoon.
Putnam County school bus and SUV involved in crash; police investigate
State police say at approximately 8 a.m., troopers from the ISP Putnamville Post responded to a crash involving a South Putnam Community School Corporation school bus and a passenger vehicle.
Livestreaming pedestrian struck in car-SUV crash west of Centerville
Social media reports say Thomas was livestreaming while walking westbound as part of a fundraising effort for underprivileged children, and the crash was captured live on Twitch.
