Illinois Wesleyan Co-Hosts Neighborhood Forum, Fair

Oct. 21, 2002

The Downtown Neighborhoods Coalition announces a neighborhood forum and fair, October 26, 9:00-12:30 at Illinois Wesleyan University’s Center for Natural Science. The forum and fair is co-sponsored by the City of Bloomington and Illinois Wesleyan University. Bloomington neighborhood residents are invited to attend. There is at no admissions charge. The City of Bloomington will award to neighborhood associations $10 for every Bloomington neighborhood association resident over the age of 18 who signs up and attends, up to $100 per association. Lunch is being provided by Illinois Wesleyan. Door prizes will be awarded from the City of Bloomington and other organizations.

The program focuses on information that residents need to create and maintain safe and healthy neighborhoods, including zoning and code enforcement issues, community policing, creating and sustaining a neighborhood watch and association, banking and finance information, and gardening.

Greg Koos, executive director of the McLean County Museum of History, will kick off the event with a presentation on the history of Bloomington neighborhoods. Among other featured speakers are Eleanor Mohammed (State Farm Bank), Mariellen Griffiths and Mike McNeil (Master Gardeners), Pamala Eaton (Dimmitt’s Grove Neighborhood Association), and Barb Adkins and Denny Mallory (City of Bloomington). A wrap-up session is being led by Professor Stacy Harwood, a neighborhood planning specialist who teaches at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Full program details are available through the offices of Uniquely Bloomington!, 104 West Monroe Street, Bloomington. The program summary is available through the Uniquely Bloomington! Web site as a pdf file. Click here to download that file. Questions can be addressed to program organizer Karen Schmidt, 829-6318, karens@uiuc.edu. The program is free of charge but participants need to pre-register by October 15.

The Downtown Neighborhoods Coalition includes the neighborhoods surrounding downtown Bloomington (Northwest, Olde Towne, South Hill, Dimmitt’s Grove and Near East) and the downtown itself. The coalition was formed to address many of the common concerns of older neighborhoods, and to build on the growth and vitality of historic downtown Bloomington. In addition to the fair and forum, the coalition is interested in issues of communication, neighborhood safety, and economic vitality.