Page last updated on December 13, 2022 at 11:32 am
Each week, Mayor Hamilton and Deputy Mayor Griffin provide video updates on recent news and key initiatives. Access all of the weekly video updates at bloomington.in.gov/videoupdates.
In today's video update, Mayor Hamilton discusses the new proposed public safety investments with Deputy Mayor Griffin. Yesterday, the City announced plans for $34 million in new investments in public safety including the issuance of $29.5 million in general revenue bonds to fund the projects. Details are available online at https://bton.in/uevIy.
The proposed improvements include purchasing and renovating the 64,000 square-foot CFC Showers building contiguous to City Hall to establish a new public safety headquarters, including relocating the police station and fire and police administration offices. The improvements also include rebuilding Fire Station #1 (E 4th St), remodeling Fire Station #3 (Woodlawn Ave), and constructing a new Fire Department training/logistics center and storage facility.
Transcript
John Hamilton:
Hi, I'm Mayor John Hamilton.
Don Griffin:
And I'm Don Griffin, deputy mayor for the City of Bloomington. Today, let's talk about the investment plan for public safety over $34 million.
John Hamilton:
Don, this is a really big deal. Thanks for getting us to talk about this unprecedented really in Bloomington history to invest this much in public safety in improving these administrations and us. We already started in 2016 with major investments. I'm incredibly proud of how our public safety works. We're the only city in Indiana that has a nationally accredited police department. There's about 5% of them that are accredited. Plus, a number one rank, the highest classification ranking for fire protection. Only one in the state. And we've done that over the last few years by the great activities of our firefighters and our police officers and all the people who work there. But they need better facilities. Part of this happened in the flood last year that knocked out the downtown fire station and police station. So, with this money paid for by the new local income tax, we're going to be buying the other part of the showers building.
Don Griffin:
64,000 square feet.
John Hamilton:
That's big.
Don Griffin:
Compared to a total of 20,000 square feet that the police station currently has.
John Hamilton:
So, we're going to bring police and fire together, the administration of fire and the administration of police and the whole police station the first time, be able to coordinate together, be in city hall, coordinating with all of city government, a new police station rehabbed in this old building. So, we're protecting and restoring an old building right downtown. It's really good. I'm really proud of the work. It's not cheap, but it's worth it. And we're going to be adding some more fire facilities that we can talk about too.
Don Griffin:
Now-
John Hamilton:
Big deal.
Don Griffin:
...now you said it's not cheap, however, it is much more affordable than building new.
John Hamilton:
It is. It's the best option we've found. We got a good price on the shower's expansion. And by the way, this sets us up for the next 30 years with room to grow.
Don Griffin:
Plenty of room to expand.
John Hamilton:
...to grow and all that stuff. I'm really excited about getting everybody together. And besides the police, all the police plus the fire administrators, we got two other fire stations that were really in trouble.
Don Griffin:
So, that was fire station one, which had an issue with flooding.
John Hamilton:
Downtown.
Don Griffin:
...downtown.
John Hamilton:
Main one headquarters.
Don Griffin:
And then the fire station number three, which is ancient but still a solid, solid building.
John Hamilton:
On Woodlawn by IU. So, the downtown station has been uninhabitable for over a year now, and we've been working out a temporary quarter. So, this money will let us basically rebuild that down on fourth street. It's now going to be okay. From water, we will get rid of the basement and so rebuild that whole thing. It will also let us rehab, as you said, that's our oldest fire station that hadn't been substantially rehabbed.
Don Griffin:
Station three.
John Hamilton:
The station three up on Woodlawn, so we're going to do several million dollars of upgrades there to make it modern and fair and equitable, and the new modern station. And then also, the fire station. The fire department needs a training and logistics building. They're in a rental right now. This will let us build state-of-the-art. So, it's a huge investment. We're going to the city council, and we'll be asking them for support, which I hope they'll do. They pass the tax that funds it, and it's going to move our public safety into the future for planning, coordination, and preparedness.
Don Griffin:
And that vote starts, or at least it's presented, on November 30th.
John Hamilton:
It starts, and then we hope it'll be voted on by December 7th. And this community supports public safety. We have, we will continue to, and this is really the biggest ever single investment in public safety; and I'm really proud to present it, and hopefully, the council will move it forward.
Don Griffin:
It's very exciting news for the City of Bloomington. If you folks have more questions about what we're doing on public safety, feel free to go to our website, and we look forward to seeing you next time. Take care.