smokestack

To make way for their project, the property owners requested to relocate the alley directly south.

The partial demolition comes after the city issued an unsafe building order for the smokestack Jan. 10, and on March 11 a modified order that partially closed the B-Line Trail.

City administration asked Peerless Development to invest $250,000 in public art. Peerless proposed relocating the alley directly south, but city administration still wants the art installation.

Bloomington’s Urban Enterprise Association awarded Peerless Development a $20,000 façade grant last week, despite a single application being limited to $10,000.

By delaying to June 15, the city administration and Peerless could potentially reach an agreement before council recesses for summer.

City staff estimated Peerless will make about $800,000 in annual rent from the property’s 51 units. None of the units will be dedicated to affordable housing.

AT&T originally estimated to remove the equipment between June-September.

During city council’s committee Wednesday, it considered the historic preservation commission’s recommended district boundary.

Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton says an intensive engineering study was done and the top half of the smokestack needs to be reduced.

The area around the 140-foot tall smokestack is closed including a portion of the B-Line Trail.