BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Beloved by students, faculty and alumni, Indiana University's Dunn Meadow is closed for the semester while renovations are taking place.
This comes after pro-Palestinian protestors occupied much of Dunn Meadow for five months.
With the recent closure, events like Swing in September must be held elsewhere.
The Friday night jazz concert series hosted around 400 people each show in the meadow.
“We had three years where we were in Dunn Meadow and that was a wonderful location,” said Tom Walsh, Jazz Studies Department Chair for IU.
In early August, the university announced the space will be closed for maintenance on the grass and irrigation system.
The work has already begun.
“We've been adapting all along to whatever we need to do to put on great live jazz music for the people here in Bloomington,” said Walsh.
The university estimates $100,000 in damages are needed to be repaired, stating it was caused by the heavy use of the space since April.
“We lasted 100 days until August,” said spokesperson for the IU Divestment Coalition, Bryce Greene.
He said the group used the space to push for IU to dissolve partnerships with Israel.
Greene believes the renovations are a way to shut down any potential protests in the foreseeable future.
“They decided to embark on this long project that doesn't seem to address any of the alleged damage that protesters did,” said Greene.
“I believe that purpose, along with its new speech restriction policy, is designed to discourage people from protesting.”
Now, the space once used for relaxation and peaceful protests is fenced off. Students must go around it to get to and from class the remainder of the semester.
“I just enjoyed walking through it, going to class and stuff,” said one sophomore, Riley Leichliter. “It was always really pretty, so it's kind of sad that it's closed."
“A lot of students are gonna be missing out on Dunn Meadow, but there's a bunch of great places around campus, so that's good at least,” said another student, Anthony Bahl.
Representatives with the college were unable to provide an interview, but said the project will take several months to complete and could cost more than anticipated.
As for Swing in September, Walsh is excited to be having the event in a new location this year.
It will now be held at the Northwest Quad, next to Luddy Hall.