The 73-year-old Johnson Creamery smokestack in downtown Bloomington is unstable and may not be repairable.
In January, property owner Peerless Capital from Chicago was given 60 days by the city to complete repairs to the historic structure.
Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton says an intensive engineering study was done and the top half of the smokestack needs to be reduced.
“The historic preservation commission and the city council will kind of need to make an ultimate decision about should it be rebuilt,” Hamilton said.
The area around the 140-foot-tall smokestack is closed, including a portion of the B-Line Trial.
The original Johnson Creamery building was built in 1914. The creamery and iconic smokestack were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. The building was remodeled in 1995 to become the Johnson Creamery Business Center.
Peerless Capital last October received approval from the Bloomington Plan Commission to build an apartment complex on the property.
