By Heart of Illinois ABC
BLOOMINGTON – Trustees overseeing Bloomington-Normal’s public transit system have picked their favorite site for an estimated $18 million transfer center in Downtown Bloomington.
Connect Transit trustees on Tuesday voted unanimously in favor of converting the old Pantagraph offices in the 300 block of West Washington Street into an indoor transfer center.
Interim General Manager Mark Peterson said it’s the trustees’ preference to utilize the iconic building instead of demolishing it. The building was the newspaper’s headquarters until the paper moved to another downtown location in 2017. The building has been unused since then.
Peterson said the transit system will soon start negotiating to buy the property, now owned by a St. Louis real estate company.
The former Pantagraph headquarters was chosen over two other locations; the Market Street parking garage and the vacant CII East building at 102 South East Street.
For years, Connect Transit leaders have wanted an indoor transfer center to replace the outdoor transfer center on Front Street, in front of the McLean County Law and Justice Center. Passengers using the current site aren’t protected from harsh winter or summer weather conditions.
The transfer center in Normal is indoors at Uptown Station.
State and federal grant dollars are paying the entire cost of the new transfer center, which is expected to be completed the last half of 2022.
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