Ordinance 18-03

This ordinance amends Chapter 8.20 of the Bloomington Municipal Code entitled "The List of Designated Historic District" in order to designate the Batman-Waldron House at 403 West Kirkwood A venue as a historic district. The Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission, in conjunction with Nancy Garrett, the current homeowner, sought this designation as a contingency to receive Bloomington Urban Enterprise Association (BUEA) grant funding to aid in the restoration of a chimney stack on the roof. The BUEA grant application was submitted to the BUEA board on October 3, 2017 and funding will be dispersed once the restoration work has been completed, which includes reconstruction of the chimney stack, replacement of damaged shingles caused by the falling stones in the chimney stack, and replacement of historic metal gutters that were damaged when the stones from the chimney fell down the roof. The Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission recommended it to the Common Council by a vote of 5-0. The Batman-Waldron House is locally significant for it eclectic representation of Queen Anne architecture, and its use of limestone as the main structural material. The extent that limestone is used throughout the house is unmatched by other residences found in the City of Bloomington, and represents the wealth and prosperity of some of the earliest settlers to Bloomington, Ira C. Batman and his wife, Mary J. Batman, daughter of wealthy real estate developer, John Waldron. The house is both architecturally significant and historically significant for its ties to the Batman and Waldron families as well as for the rare Patterned Masonry Queen Anne style that it employs, something found on only a small portion of architecture in America. Along with this designation it is also recommended that the property be rated as "outstanding" because the Batman-Waldron House is listed as part of the larger Bloomington West Side Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places. Once this ordinance has been adopted, the property will be regulated by the requirements that apply to all historic and architecturally worthy district so designated by the Common Council. These regulations preserve and protect the property from demolition and include the review of exterior modification.