Page last updated on March 28, 2025 at 6:04 pm
Join us for the grand opening of Hopewell Commons!
Wednesday, April 23 from 3:30-6 p.m. at Hopewell Commons, just west of the Seminary Square Kroger.
The celebration includes live music, guest speakers, food trucks, games and more!
3:30-6 p.m.
- Pick-up pickleball games on the pickleball courts, and pick-up ping pong games on the ping pong tables installed at Hopewell Commons! Pickleball paddles and balls, and ping pong paddles and balls, are provided, or bring your own!
- Beer garden with cash bar by Upland Brewing Company
- Food trucks
- Visit with representatives of Hopewell Commons general contractor Milestone
- Enter to win a door prize "A Day at the Park" by Bloomington Parks and Recreation
3:30-4:15 p.m.
- Live music by the Sam Finley Trio
4:15 p.m. Speaking program begins
- Welcome by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce
- Introductions by Tim Street, Director, Bloomington Parks and Recreation
- Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson
- Deborah Myerson, Bloomington Redevelopment Commission
- Holy Warren, Assistant Director for the Arts, City of Bloomington Economic & Sustainable Development
- Thomas Gott, Assistant General Superintendent, Milestone
- Door prize drawing for "A Day in the Park" basket
Immediately following speaking program until 6 p.m.
- Live music by Matixando
- Pick-up pickleball games on the pickleball courts, and pick-up ping pong games on the ping pong tables installed at Hopewell Commons! Pickleball paddles and balls, and ping pong paddles and balls, are provided, or bring your own!
- Beer garden with cash bar by Upland Brewing Company
- Food trucks
Vehicle parking for the grand opening event is at the Monroe Convention Center, 302 S. College Ave. Hopewell Commons is .26 mile south of the Convention Center on the asphalt B-Line Trail.
Bloomington Parks and Recreation will have an electric golf cart shuttle between the park and the Convention Center. A limited number of parking spaces reserved for vehicles displaying a disabled parking permit will be available on the new West University Street east of Rogers Street.
Visitors are warmly invited to walk, skate, or bicycle to the grand opening event! Bicycle parking is available next to the B-Line Trail and at the west end of the park.
Temporary restroom facilities are provided.
Parks and Recreation has been involved in the city's redevelopment of the site of the former IU Health Bloomington Hospital since 2021. City leaders envisioned the new Hopewell neighborhood with a truly public space, and as a result Parks and Recreation worked with the City's Engineering Department and with Rundell Ernstberger Associates to design a park that will be a thriving anchor for the neighborhood. When the hospital was decommissioned, the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission acquired the land and many of its outbuildings, and began demolition of the existing structures to make room for construction of Hopewell East (the four-block area between Rogers and Morton Streets, and First and Second Streets).
While Parks and Recreation will celebrate the opening of Hopewell Commons in April 2025, work on the Hopewell neighborhood will continue for years. Multiple city departments are working together to solicit proposals for the development of surrounding lots that meet the city's goals for housing that is affordable, sustainable, and with the appropriate density. Development in the area surrounding Hopewell Commons may begin as early as 2025.
The new Hopewell Commons contains 126 trees, a "log scramble" play structure, a small performance stage, artificial lawn area, space for public art, seating, a covered pavilion, and more. Parks and Recreation is pleased to be a part of this significant city project, and to continue its role of making Bloomington a vibrant place to live, work, and play.
