BLOOMINGTON — After more than a year of delays fueled by public backlash, installation of the Bloomington Bicentennial Gateway is complete.
The 52-foot-long, 10-foot-high gateway sits at at Miller-Showers Park and is made of stacked limestone blocks with mounted letters spelling "BLOOMINGTON." The letters are backlit at night with a soft white light.
The vehicle crossover between College Avenue and Walnut Street, which was closed during the installation, has since re-opened.
"We sincerely appreciate our community's patience and cooperation during construction of the gateway," said Bloomington Parks and Recreation Administrator Tim Street. "We are pleased that we were able to incorporate public feedback into the final design, and are confident that the gateway, along with associated improvements to our park's native landscape and accessibility, will be an attractive welcome to Bloomington."
The gateway was funded by $1.25 million that was set aside in 2018 for Bicentennial projects.
In 2022, the city asked for public feedback on proposed designs for the gateway. The then-finalized design was announced last September, but was quickly met with public criticism.
The original concept was a 40-foot monolith-style gateway with backlighted letters that spell out "Bloomington."
A new design was released last November and approved in January. The construction contracts for the project were awarded to Reed & Sons Construction in June.
The city says there is space an additional public art piece about 60 feet north of the gateway wall. The Bloomington Arts Commission plans to accept design proposals in February.
An additional $125,000 from the Bicentennial Bond fund will be used to select and install the artwork.
