Council narrowly agrees to work with Normal on sports complex study

Posted on April 10, 2018
Sports Facilities Advisory
Bloomington aldermen voted 5-4 to help Normal pay for Sports Facilities Advisory’s feasibility study of a McLean County multi-sports complex. (Courtesy Facebook/Sports Facilities Advisory)

 

By Howard Packowitz

Bloomington is joining Normal in paying a consultant to study the feasibility and economic impact of a multi-sports complex at a yet-to-be determined McLean County site.

The Bloomington City Council agreed on a narrow 5-4 vote to spend $17,625, which is what Normal will pay Sports Facilities Advisory of Clearwater, Florida.

Alderman Diana Hauman is happy to see the Twin-Cities working together on economic development.

“What benefits one community benefits the other community, and we can’t make a decision on a potential sports complex based on guesses and suppositions,” Hauman said.

She said this is a modest investment to get an expert’s view.

“I’ve been vocal in the past about using consultants, but this is one time when I feel we need to invest in the expertise we do not have, and that we need,” Hauman added.

Aldermen Kimberly Bray, Joni Painter, David Sage, and Mboka Mwilambwe were opposed to the city’s participation.

The McLean County Board is not helping out financially with the study, but the Bloomington-Normal Area Convention and Visitors Bureau is contributing $11,750.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…