By Greg Halbleib
BLOOMINGTON – The leader of a group working on a report on the feasibility of moving Bloomington’s library and public transportation transfer site says city leaders shut down discussion too early.
The Bloomington City Council voted Monday to back the Bloomington Public Library board’s preference to stay at its Olive Street location after months of discussion.
Stacey Tutt of the University of Illinois Community Preservation Clinic said her group has not finished a report outlining needs and options for the library and Connect Transit. Tutt said her group promised the report during a joint meeting of the council and both boards in January, with the goal of completing it before the city council discussed capital improvement projects during budget talks.
Tutt said city leaders rejected her request to delay the vote on the resolution supporting the current library site until the report was complete. Tutt added it’s taken months to gather the information that leaders should have before making final decisions, and it does not only concern the Market Street site.
“I think there’s an assumption here that the report is going to only be focused on the catalyst project that was proposed by the downtown task force, and that’s not actually the case,” Tutt said. “The report takes a very objective approach, taking analysis of all the public records that are out there.”
Tutt said the council voted without having that information.
“It’s been put out there that there’s already been so much investment and they’re so far down the line that it’s at a point where they have to make a decision,” Tutt said. “But if you look at these large-scale projects, these are actually years in the making. It’s very common practice when doing so that a number of sites are analyzed.”
Tutt said she’ll fulfill her original promise to present a final report in the coming weeks.
“There are still lots of options in order to move forward, either with the library expansion, Connect Transit having a transfer station, whatever those things may be,” Tutt said. “We’re hoping this information helps guide the city council, guide all of the boards that are trying to make these decisions.”
Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected].
