By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – Downtown Bloomington’s future will be on the minds of city aldermen at Monday night’s council meeting.

Aldermen will decide whether to pay a consultant $28,000 to prepare bid specifications for signs that would be seen throughout the city’s central core.

Last Monday night, council members indicated they liked teal-colored signs with a traditional look, having rejected an art deco motif at a meeting three months ago.

A staff report to aldermen said, “The unified appearance of the recommended signs remind patrons that they have arrived at Bloomington’s historic, safe, and friendly downtown destination.”

“As somebody who’s been downtown for so many years with a business, the amount of questions that we have answered for people who are lost, wandering around downtown trying to figure things out, this will solve a lot of problems,” said Alderman Jamie Mathy.

“It’s not for those of us who are necessarily here who know where these landmarks are. It is for people, especially Route 66 traffic and others that we want to come downtown, or if they’re coming from Kenny Rogers or whatever other event we might have,” Mayor Tari Renner said.

City leaders placed a quarter-million dollars for signage in the current year’s budget. Almost $25,000 has been spent on streetscape items such as benches, bike racks, and trash bins.

Also, the Downtown Task Force will discuss its findings for all but its most controversial idea, building a library and Connect Transit transfer center at the site of the city’s aging parking garage between Market and Monroe.

Mayor Tari Renner said the proposal is complex and will be discussed later.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected].