After decades of planning, years of finding funding and a lot of controversy, the expansion project of the Monroe Convention Center is moving quickly.
The downtown Bloomington convention center sits two blocks from the county courthouse. Officials say it’s booked, turning away groups, exhibitors and conferences every year.
Read more: CIB appoints new member, fine-tunes expansion project
Convention center executive director Talisha Coppock said the expansion will allow for new types of events from pickleball to fencing.
“There are people that are very interested in using that space, and we've been in contact with them that we're saying it's all starting to happen," Coppock said. "And I used to have one teacher that would call every four years and ask if we've expanded yet.”
Read more: Monroe convention expansion at stalemate while Terre Haute, Columbus find momentum
The county purchased land across the street from the current center in 2010 anticipating the expansion. It took seven years for the county council to vote on a one-percent food and beverage tax increase to fund the project.
It narrowly passed with a 4-to-3 vote after five hours of public comment and discussion in 2017.
The controversy of whether to expand then became how to expand. City and county officials came to a stalemate on how to move the project forward. Then COVID-19 shut the process down.
In 2023, state legislators criticized Monroe County and Bloomington’s lack of transparency in the food and beverage tax spending.
A Capital Improvement Board was formed more than a year ago, and since then, President John Whikehart said the project has been moving quickly.
“I continue to say that for government work. It's moving to warp speed. So, you know, it's been, it's been great,” he said.
Architects presented updated renderings and floor plans at a recent CIB meeting. The refinements help get the project within budget. The more than $52 million dollar cost estimate includes the expansion and renovation of the current building.
The expansion amounts to about 61,000 square feet, a few thousand square feet larger than a football field. The existing convention center is 40,000 square feet.
Read more: CIB wrapping up schematic design, recommends hotel developer
And Dora Hospitality was chosen as the companion hotel developer. Dora is looking at the Bunger & Robertson property north of the existing center.
Their proposal includes a 5,000 square foot ballroom, outdoor activity space off the B-Line Trail, a full-service restaurant, rooftop bar, retail space, and a level of below-grade parking.
But will that be enough parking? Whikehart reminded everyone during a recent meeting the CIB is not charged with parking.
“I'm surprised that it hasn't come up more often. It's certainly something that we think about all the time,” Whikehart said.
Much of the surface parking around the current center will be used for the expansion and hotel.
The main ballroom could seat around 2,000 people for dinner and the current center could host another 800 people, with a proposed 210-room hotel across the street.
Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson said the Fourth Street Garage nearby is mostly filled throughout the week.
“We're going to support public transit, etc, etc, we will need significant parking, and I don't think that it's all going to be taken care of with the Fourth Street garage,” Thomson said.
She said the underground parking level at the hotel would help but is not the answer.
Meanwhile, the current center’s debt is being paid off, which paves the way to a new bond for the expansion.
The final design phase leads to a construction document phase in February, bidding in March, and construction in June. The expansion project is scheduled to be done in January of 2027.
