Bloomington’s Lower Cascades Park is a step closer to receiving a local historic designation.
On Thursday, the city’s Historic Preservation Commission accepted a city staff report on the site’s historic significance.
That means it may decide whether to recommend the designation at its next meeting on Dec. 14. The meeting will double as a public hearing on the topic.
The City Council must vote on that recommendation. But its last meeting is Dec. 13, meaning it likely won’t do so until 2024.
Read more: Residents oppose Hamilton’s plan for Lower Cascades road closure
Next year’s Council will include mostly new members who were just elected.
This effort is led by a group of residents who want to preserve driver access to the park.
It’s a response to Mayor John Hamilton’s plan to close part of the road to drivers and make it a biker-pedestrian trail.
A historic designation would require input from the commission for some changes to the property.
Listen: Opponents decry Mayor Hamilton’s plan to close part of Lower Cascade road
Council President Sue Sgambelluri said the Council is unlikely to vote on a road closure this year. To date, the mayor’s office has not presented a legislative proposal.
If it’s not voted on this year, Sgambelluri says the measure could still make its way to the council — but that will be up to the next mayor, Kerry Thomson.
Sgambelluri encourages members of the public to attend the historic commission’s next meeting and express why the park is important to them.
Lower Cascades is about 100 years old. It is Bloomington’s oldest park.
