Former Bloomington Mayor Walt Bittner has died, just shy of his 98th birthday. He was mayor in the 1970's, a time during which Bloomington experienced a major growth spurt, and much of it was on the east side. Mark Butzow, a BHS Grad who is now a newspaper reporter in Indiana married Walt Bittner's youngest child, Lisa. He says while Walt was all business when he needed to be, he was also serious about play, and recreation. Butzow says it was Bittner that kept the Miller Park Zoo from closing.
Butzow says parks were very important to Walt Bittner, and he was a champion of not only existing recreational areas in Bloomington, but also wanted new ones as the city grew.