A new interpretive sign and remarks from several speakers are among the highlights of a Workers Memorial Day event scheduled for 5:30pm on April 28 in Building and Trades Park (619 W. Howe St., across Second Street from IU Health Bloomington Hospital).
The new interpretive sign, similar to those along the B-Line Trail, will be installed by Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department at the Howe Street entrance to the park. It sketches the history of labor’s involvement with the site and the story of Workers Memorial Day. Recognized annually in the U.S. since 1989, Workers Memorial Day honors workers killed or injured on the job.
The sign is one of several recent improvements to the park, thanks to a collaborative partnership between Parks and Recreation, the Prospect Hills Neighborhood Association, and the White River Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. A mural featuring a wide range of careers was designed by neighborhood artist Sam Bartlett with the assistance of the neighborhood association, Labor Council, and Parks and Recreation.
The mural was painted by IU Health Bloomington Hospital staff and other community volunteers. Inscribed limestone benches, recently installed, memorialize the victims of workplace injury and death.
Speakers at the event include Mayor Mark Kruzan, Parks and Recreation director Mick Renneisen, Labor Council president Jackie Yenna, a Prospect Hills neighborhood spokesperson, and special guest Ronald Simko, an Indiana Occupational Safety Standards Commissioner. Simko also serves as training coordinator for the Indiana-Kentucky-Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters training center in Hobart, Indiana.