BLOOMINGTON— The Board of Park Commissioners was presented with A Master Plan on May 21 to guide the future development of Building Trades Park, a former stone quarry that became a city park in 1949.
Mader Design began work on the master plan in 2023. To develop it, it conducted two public input meetings and collected feedback from more than 200 individuals online.
Parks and Recreation Administrator Tim Street said, “The final master plan is not a construction document; rather, we’ll use the master plan to make cohesive decisions about construction in the park, and to ensure we are serving the needs of our neighbors and park users.”
The park’s history as a stone quarry poses accessibility challenges, with numerous grade changes throughout. Aging infrastructure, including picnic shelters and playground equipment installed in 2003, also needs to be addressed.
According to Street, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) has allocated funds to address accessibility issues. Plans call for reconstructing a ramp that runs from the edge of the park at Second Street North to the picnic shelter. Funds that remain following the ramp project may be used for a new, more visible, and accessible picnic shelter.
Other concepts presented in the master plan are pickleball courts, native plantings, a “skate spot” for skateboards, and space for public art.
A new, one-acre urban park dubbed “Hopewell Commons” is scheduled to open in late 2024 south of Second Street, between South Rogers and South Morton Streets, west of the Seminary Square Kroger. Hopewell Commons includes trees, a small lawn and greenspace, and a play structure, but will not have mature trees or sports courts like Building Trades Park to the north. Two parks nearby that offer a variety of active and passive uses will benefit community members from surrounding neighborhoods and the future Hopewell development on the site of the former IU Health Bloomington Hospital.
For more information about the Building Trades Park Master Plan or upcoming park improvement projects, contact Bloomington Parks and Recreation at 812-349-3700 or parks@bloomington.in.gov, or visit the Parks Project Update web page.
