By Patrick Baron

BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington’s mayoral candidates discussed their plans for developing downtown at WJBC’s mayoral candidate roundtable.

Regarding downtown, current mayor Tari Renner explained he wants to make the Bloomington Public Library a travel destination by having Constitution Trail run past it.

“The library ought to be a destination; the bike trail is going to be snaked into downtown and the library,” said Renner. “So we’re working many pieces of the pie.”

Renner also said if the hotel is built next to the coliseum, the coliseum could see an increase in ticket sales. Regarding the hotel, candidate Kevin Lower explained he doesn’t want to invest time and money into something that may not pay off.

“We’re in a recession, this is not the time to get the city out there and try to do something that the economy probably won’t support,” said Lower.

Other candidates have ideas about cleaning up downtown to make it more appealing to both residents and businesses. Candidate Diana Human explained she wants to coordinate with local artists to help give Bloomington’s historic district an updated look.

“My idea is to somehow connect the artists and the historic district. We have 30-some artists and residents in the downtown area, which makes us unique,” said Hauman. “So whether it’s lighting or bricking the streets that designates that area, I’d like to see that.”

Meanwhile candidate Robert Fike wants to clean up downtown Bloomington to increase the number of businesses located there. He said downtown is part of Bloomington’s history and hertiage, with aspects that could be improved for the future.

“It’s something that we have to keep in our heritage, it’s something that can be improved upon. There’s a lot more chance of businesses relocating downtown because of the lower rent they’d have to pay,” said Fike. “One thing I’d like to do is clean up downtown.”

The consolidated primary for local elections will take place on February 28.

Patrick Baron can be reached at [email protected].