Scaled-down flamingo exhibit back for consideration

Posted on August 7, 2015

By Joe Ragusa

BLOOMINGTON – The proposed Flamingo exhibit at the Miller Park Zoo is expected to be smaller than originally planned.

The Bloomington City Council will vote on a bid from CAD Construction Monday worth $232,760. That’s nearly $100,000 less than the bid the city council rejected in February.

City staff scaled the project back after the original bids came in over budget. The amount of concrete was reduced by eliminating the nesting island in the original proposal, the building size was decreased and some of the filtration system was removed.

Assistant City Manager Steve Rasmussen said the project will help the Parks and Rec department provide a better quality-of-life for residents of the city.

“It’s a tough issue, I understand, but we’ve got this one where we think we can afford it and where it will be a positive benefit for the public,” Rasmussen said.

The Miller Park Zoological Society is contributing $100,000 and the Ewing Zoo Foundation is contributing $50,000 to the project.

Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year. It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…