Why an expanded convention and civic center?
Each year, approximately 460 events are held at the current Monroe County Convention Center. 70% are local events. 30% are regional meetings of approximately 250 people or fewer, who help fill Bloomington-area hotels on slower Sunday-Thursday periods.
According to Visit Bloomington, a meaningful volume of medium-sized groups would be interested in hosting meetings in Monroe County, but cannot do so due to the small size of the current facility.
Even larger local non-profits often have to cap the size of their events because of capacity limits at the facility today.
Monroe County ranks last in the state in terms of civic space per capita:
Visit Bloomington estimates the annual economic impact in Monroe County of an expanded facility to be $13-$18 million per year.
See “Redevelopment of Convention Center Needed” column from convention center Executive Director, Talisha Coppock.
History
The current Monroe County Convention Center opened in 1991. It is approximately 31,000 square feet, with 24,000 feet of meeting space.
In 2009, the Indiana State Assembly authorized the use of a 1% food and beverage tax to fund an expanded convention center.
In 2012, the current facility was remodeled, and new (at the time) audio-visual equipment was added, but the physical space was not enlarged.
In 2017, the Monroe County Council voted to impose the 1% food and beverage tax, which has been collected since that time.
In 2019, Monroe County and the City of Bloomington jointly appointed members to a convention center expansion advisory board to develop a plan for expansion of the convention center using the food and beverage tax receipts. The pandemic halted those plans, and the advisory board was dissolved.
In 2023, to move the expansion project forward, the Monroe County Commissioners passed Monroe County Ordinance 2023-24 creating the Monroe County Capital Improvement Board of Managers (CIB) - that’s us! The CIB authority comes from this ordinance and from Indiana Code 36-10-8. Monroe County and the City of Bloomington each invite three members to the CIB, with our 7th member selected by the 6 appointees.
In 2024, the City of Bloomington and Monroe County entered into an Interlocal Agreement to outline their method of cooperating on the project.
In June, 2024 based upon recommendations from a CIB working group, the east parcel was selected as the preferred site for the convention center expansion. This location sits between Walnut and College, with 3rd street as its northern boundary. The expansiion will be an estimated 60,000 square feet, and will primarily utilize the existing 4th Street Garage.
In June, 2024 the CIB drafted and distributed a RFP for a partner to construct and operate a new convention center hotel. Three responses were received in August, 2024.
In July and August, 2024 the CIB worked with project architects Schmidt Associates to gather input from a wide range of community stakeholders, including elected officials, the business community, utility providers, and travel and tourism leaders.
In late 2024 and early 2025, the CIB finalized design, construction budget, and received approval from multiple government entities, including approval of project bonds in March, 2025.
Project Partners
In 2019, the City of Bloomington retained the services of Schmidt Associates, and their partners Convergence Design, as project architects. The contract with the architects was approved by the CIB in July, 2024.
In 2024, the CIB retained the services of JS Held as owner’s representative for the expansion project.
In 2024, the CIB selected Weddle Bros. as the construction manager for the project. The contract with Weddle Bros was approved by the CIB in July, 2024.
Recent Milestones
The Bloomington Common Council approved the bonds for the project on March 5, 2025 on a 6-0 vote.
The CIB voted on February 19, 2025 to name the new project the Bloomington Convention Center, after extensive outreach to and feedback from relevant community stakeholders and users of the facility.
The CIB voted on February 19, 2025 to approve final design and move into construction contracting phase.
In January and February, 2025 the project received approval of variances from the Board of Zoning Appeals, approval from the Bloomington Plan Commission, and preliminary approval from the Board of Public Works.
The CIB voted on October 23, 2024 to approve the initial project definition and schematic design for the new convention center building.
The CIB voted on October 10, 2024 to recommend Dora Hospitality as the project’s hotel partner, and recommended that the City of Bloomington Redevelopment Commission work quickly with Dora to put a public offering together for the land parcel to the north of the existing convention center.
Public meeting to gather input from elected officials was held October 1, 2024.
Public meeting to present preliminary design directions was held September 16, 2024.
2025 preliminary budget was approved by CIB in July, 2024 and is scheduled for presentation to the Bloomington Common Council in September, 2024.
Approval of project financing and bonding is scheduled for completion in Fall, 2024.
Construction and renovation is anticipated to begin in early 2025, with a projected completion of early 2027 for the new convention center building, and mid-2027 for the renovation of the existing building.
