New CIB to oversee expansion of Monroe Convention Center
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
A key hurdle to expanding the Monroe Convention Center in Bloomington has been cleared. The Monroe County Board of Commissioners has unanimously passed an ordinance establishing a Capital Improvement Board (CIB) that will oversee the expansion project that has been over six years in the making.
The approval comes nearly seven months after Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton vetoed a similar plan to create a CIB instead of his preferred route of forming a 501(c)3 not-for-profit to oversee the project.
Board of Commissioners President Penny Githens said ahead of the vote last week that an expanded convention center will allow the county to take advantage of increased demand.
“They are having to turn away conventions that require a larger space, or they’re having to turn away conventions that they could accommodate two at a time if they had a larger space,” Githens said.
Under the new ordinance, the CIB will select the site for the convention center expansion, identify and contract with the entities that will handle the operation and management of the venue, oversee the process for a potential new hotel partner at the site, hire and retain support staff, and oversee any additional amenities that may be needed such as a parking garage.
The CIB will consist of seven members. The county and city will each appoint three members, and those six members will appoint the seventh.
Plans for the expansion date back to at least 2017, when a 1% food and beverage tax was proposed for Monroe County to fund the project. That tax was ultimately approved.
Last November, the commissioners approved an ordinance to establish a CIB, but that ordinance also required approval by the Bloomington City Council and Mayor Hamilton’s administration. The council gave its approval, but Hamilton vetoed the measure, saying a not-for-profit could be more efficient.
The new ordinance approved on July 5 does not require mayoral approval. However, an interlocal agreement with the city must still be reached. A draft agreement has already been created.
Representatives for the city did not attend last week’s meeting, but County Attorney Jeff Cockerill said the city did not express support for the ordinance because “they wanted to work out a lot of issues with the interlocal [agreement].”
In her comments prior to the vote, Githens said the mayor expressed his support for collaboration on the expansion in 2017 when the food and beverage tax was being considered, but that viewpoint appears to have changed since the debate over the CIB began.
“The mayor’s office, even with all the public outcry and public support that we’ve had for the Capital Improvement Board, the mayor still is not listening to the community, it feels like, in supporting this particular method for moving forward,” she said. “We have heard expressed by the mayor’s staff…that the city is interested in taking over the construction of the expansion. That’s not collaboration in my view.”
The mayor’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Inside INdiana Business.
Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce CEO Eric Spoonmore spoke at the commissioners’ meeting and released a statement expressing the chamber’s 100% support of the CIB’s formation.
“We could not be any more excited for the future of our downtown and our convention and hospitality sectors,” Spoonmore said in written remarks. “This transformative economic development project will reshape and revitalize a portion of our downtown that is badly in need of redevelopment, while also bringing more visitors to our community that will contribute to sustained economic growth.”
The county is currently accepting applications for those interested in serving on the CIB. Commissioner Julie Thomas said they have a deadline to get the interlocal agreement and CIB members in place by December.