Page last updated on September 26, 2025 at 10:07 am
Parks and Recreation Project Updates
Last updated September 5, 2025.
An overview of projects happening at parks, trails, and facilities.
Building Trades Park Master Plan
Bloomington Parks and Recreation, together with our partner Mader Design, invites 
you and your family to join us at Building Trades Park, 619 W. Howe St., on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025 between 4 and 6 p.m. Come see the new accessibility improvements that have been added to the park over the past several months. You’ll have the chance to chat with Parks and Recreation staff and members of the Building Trades Park Master Plan design team about the recently completed first phase and what’s ahead in the next stage of construction. We’d love to hear your thoughts on how the park is working for you and what you’d like to see in the future. Stop by, say hello, and share your ideas—we look forward to the conversation!
A new master plan created for Building Trades Park addresses aging park infrastructure, as well as future anticipated needs and community wants for the park. Mader Design, a Beech Grove, Ind. based landscape architect firm, presented the final Building Trades Park Master Plan to the Board of Park Commissioners at their May 2024 regular meeting.
A first round of park improvements focusing on accessibility was completed using a portion of the city's available American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. The Board of Park Commissioners at their Dec. 10, 2024 meeting approved a contract with Reed & Sons for $309,649 to prepare the park site and install a 10-foot-wide accessible concrete multi-use path, upgrade parking areas with curb cuts for improved accessibility, add erosion control measures, construct limestone walls, and demolish existing pavement. Reed & Sons installed a concrete walkway and pad, and constructed a new picnic shelter. A contract addendum for an additional $4,422 was approved on July 17, 2025 for additional concrete work.
The Board of Park Commissioners at their June 25, 2024 meeting approved a contract with Mader Design for up to $59,000 to design the first phase of accessibilitiy improvements to Building Trades Park. These improvements will include north-south accessibility across the park (removal of the existing wooden ramp to the picnic shelter, and a new north-south connection); and, as funding permits, the construction of a new picnic shelter.
Asphalt Repair and Improvements
The Board of Park Commissioners at their Aug. 28, 2025 meeting approved a contract for $165,750 with Reed & Sons for asphalt repairs and improvements across multiple park properties, including services necessary for site preparation, milling and overlay, full-depth replacement, crack repair, root pruning, and site restoration. The scope includes:
- Repairs to the asphalt perimeter trail at Miller-Showers Park, scheduled to take place the first week of October, weather permitting.
- Paving the entry drive at the Griffy Lake Nature Preserve boathouse, scheduled for the week of Nov. 3-7, 2025
- Milling and re-asphalt the basketball courts, and repairing cracks on the tennis and pickleball courts, at RCA Community Park, scheduled to take place in September and October, 2025
- Creating an asphalt pedestrian path from West Third Street to the existing drive inside Rose Hill Cemetery, scheduled to take place in September and October, 2025
Powerline Trail
Parks and Recreation is continuing to develop plans to satisfy requirement for riparian plantings and erosion control in the planned .9-mile Powerline Trail between South Rogers Street at the entrance to Switchyard Park west to Weimer Road.
Rail Trail Rogers Street Crossing
Plans call to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists at the Rogers Street crossing of the gravel-surfact Bloomington Rail Trail. Scope of work includes:
- the installation of a pedestrian-activated Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (RRFB)
- a new streetlight for increased visibility
- 12-foot-wide paved trail sections on both sides of the road
- realigning the trail to create a 90-degree crossing at Rogers Street
The project also involves vegetation removal, site grading, stormwater inlet installation, and final site restoration to ensure long-term functionality and integration with the surrounding landscape existing along the Bloomington Rail Trail
Banneker Community Center Limestone Step Repairs
The Board of Park Commissioners at their Aug. 28, 2025 meeting approved a contract for $68,915 with LRT Restoration Technologies to replace the historic limestone steps to the front entrance of the Banneker Community Center. Banneker received a $22,500 Historic Preservation Fund grant from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology to help replace the steps at this historically significant building. The front entrance (off West 7th Street) will be closed during repairs; an alternate, wheelchair accessible entrance with power doors is available on the west side of the building on North Elm Street. Work is scheduled to take place in fall 2025.