Building Trades Park

Building Trades Park (2 acres) is located at 619 W. Howe St.

Building Trades Park

• A public meeting to begin gathering information to develop a long-term master plan to guide the future of Building Trades Park will take place Thursday, Sept. 28 at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 401 N. Morton St.
  • Beech Grove, Ind.-based landscape architect Mader Design was selected to lead the master plan process.
  • The Parks and Recreation Department and the Mader Design team will collect input from the community and from area neighborhood associations to develop plans for the park.
  • Attend the meeting in person, or via Zoom. Visit this website after 3 p.m. on Sept. 28 for a Zoom link to attend the meeting virtually.
  • Watch for announcements about a future meeting to review preliminary plans, and to provide additional feedback.
  • Following the public meeting on September 28, links to an online comment form will be available on this project update page and on the Building Trades Park web page to collect additional feedback through Oct. 15, 2023.
  • Add your name to the Parks and Recreation News Release email list, to receive notifications about this and other public meetings.
    
     

Learn more about the proposed Futsal court at Building Trades Park

Basketball Goals: Five goals

Parking Areas: Nine spaces, located off of Howe Street. Designated wheelchair accessible parking space.

Loop Trail: This ¼-mile loop trail surrounds most of the park. Portions of the trail are also used as a sidewalk, and include a boardwalk.

Play Field/Playground: Open green space, accessible playground

Restrooms: Located near Howe Street, open seasonally

Picnic Shelter:

Shelter house rentals may be made online or by visiting the Bloomington Parks and Recreation office at 401 N. Morton St., Suite 250 in City Hall, Monday-Friday, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Shelters are available for rental April 1 through October 31. Reservations are available year round on a first-come, first-served basis.

Shelter reservations must be made either in person or online; we cannot reserve a shelter over the phone.

Shelter rental fees are per day, regardless of how long you actually use the shelter. Shelters are rented to only one party per day, and shelter rental times are from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m.

Building Trades Park - Shelter $59/weekdays, $62/weekends and holidays
Located in Building Trades Park between Howe Street and Second Street, this shelter house is wheelchair accessible, has accessible restrooms (open seasonally) and a grill but no water or electricity. Two accessible playgrounds are nearby. See a map of Building Trades Park showing shelter location. Maximum capacity 30 people.

HISTORY
Building Trades Park was first known as the "Second Street Park." The park land had been owned, sequentially starting in 1895, by the Henley Stone Company, Oolitic Stone Company and South Side Stone Company; it was once the site of a limestone mill. South Side Stone left the land around 1920. Neighbor and area historian Don Shiflet said the quarry holes were still present on the property, although there were no buildings, in 1927.

In about 1949, businessmen Ralph Rogers and John R. East helped fill in and smooth the site. East used clinkers from his coal business. The park is named Building Trades Park because it was established with help of local union workers. Records show the parcel was purchased from the Bloomington Chamber of Commerce on July 26, 1949 for $1.

The multiple-use concrete slab area was completed in August 1967. New playground equipment was installed in 2003. The shelterhouse was renovated in 1981 and rehabbed in 2009 by the Labor and Trades Union.