What's going on downtown? Officials address vacancies, unhoused population, more

Michelle Billionis has been a business owner downtown since 2007. She opened The Coffee Ethic on Park Central Square during the height of downtown's revitalization and described downtown's evolution over the past 16 years as a "roller coaster."

When Billionis opened The Coffee Ethic with her late husband, Tom, in December 2007, downtown was on the precipice of regaining its status as a destination spot in Springfield. The Park Central Branch Library was preparing to open next door and renovations were planned (not for the first time, nor the last) at the Heers building. But things changed with the Great Recession in 2008, which forced downtown into "survival mode," Billinois said.

Though businesses like The Coffee Ethic rebounded from the recession, downtown businesses have been forced, once again, to navigate uncertainty following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since August 2023, at least 20 businesses have closed downtown, including Regal College Station movie theater, the Ward Downtown YMCA, Bosky's Vegan Grill and Black Lab Coffee, according to Downtown Springfield Community Improvement District manager Barb Baker. But filling in these gaps are about 20 new businesses, including Jamaican Patty Co., The Dive on Patton, Heirloom Candle Bar and The Vault Bar & Grill, many of which opened in newly vacated locations.

As of Dec. 29, there were 23 vacant storefronts downtown, Downtown Springfield Association executive director Rusty Worley told the News-Leader. Eight of these 23 vacancies require "significant renovations," like the Newberry Building at 132 Park Central Square.

Short-term goals to brighten downtown

The two governing bodies of downtown, the Downtown Springfield Association (DSA) and Downtown Springfield Community Improvement District (CID), have both short- and long-term goals for bettering the area.

When the News-Leader spoke with Chris Ball, president of Jack Ball Architects, an organization that works directly with the CID, in August, he said downtown entities are focused on "image-enhancement."

The first phase of this project was completed in summer 2023, with the installation of downtown's first pocket park at the corner of South Avenue and McDaniel Street. The 5,000-square-foot park is owned by Anne and Clayton Baker, co-owners of Finnegan's Wake, Civil Kitchen and Tinga Tacos. For the next two years, the Bakers are leasing the park to the CID. The park offers benches for public seating and a designated spot for a rotating selection of food trucks.

More: Opening this summer, downtown pocket park to offer public seating, rotating food trucks

The next phase of the project, which is already underway, is the installation of more over-street lighting. This project began with high-quality string lights added over South Avenue where it branches off Park Central Square.

Currently, over-street lighting is being added above Park Central East, from Park Central Square to Jefferson Avenue. Over-street lighting will also be added above Park Central West and Walnut Street. Electric work required for the over-street lighting will cost about $122,000 ($18,000 for lighting above South Avenue, $30,000 above Park Central East, $27,000 above Park Central West and $47,000 above Walnut Street), Baker told the News-Leader in August.

Addressing the 'dark corners' of downtown

While projects like over-street lighting will help brighten downtown — both literally and figuratively — the district still faces challenges when it comes to polishing its public image.

"Right now, some of our public spaces serve as de facto day shelters," said Worley, of the DSA.

Jubilee Park, Founders Park and Park Central Square are all places where members of the city's unhoused community tend to congregate, especially during warmer weather.

In 2023, Springfield City Council approved the use of nearly $2 million of ARPA funding for the construction, renovation or rehabilitation of one or more buildings to serve as emergency shelters. Plans have not been announced for this project, but to take advantage of the funding, any new shelter(s) must be completed by Dec. 31, 2026.

More: Springfield looks to add more shelter beds. What can the money accomplish?

"That's going to be exciting when that (emergency shelter) opens ...," Worley said. "If we can accelerate the development of those (spaces), or find interim solutions until a physical purpose-driven day shelter is constructed, that still provides the services that people are needing but pulls them away from some of the spaces they are going to now."

On the square, one area that tends to attract loiterers is in front of the Newberry Building, the vacant structure between the Park Central Branch Library and LA Luna Hair Academy. The building, which formerly housed the J. J. Newberry Co., has been vacant and in need of significant renovations for several decades.

As a business owner just a few doors down from the Newberry Building, Billionis said she would like to see the "empty, dilapidated" building cleaned up, occupied or sold soon.

"It has become a health hazard and eyesore and has been empty for more than 20 years," she said.

As of Dec. 29, the Newberry Building was the only vacant storefront on Park Central Square. Throughout the latter half of 2023, several new businesses opened on the square, including Rah Law at 205 Park Central Square and BRP Architects and Meridian Title Company in the Heer's building.

Worley said the arrival of new businesses is a step in the right direction for the square.

"What we've found is when those businesses are activated like our coffee shops and restaurants ... there's a respect for that economic activity," Worley said. "Right now, activity (involving unhoused people) is coming in where there's a void or where there are dark corners. If (areas of downtown) are active and vibrant, then folks will have to look for other alternatives."

When it comes to short-term solutions for bettering the square, Worley and Ball agreed that hosting public programming like recreational tournaments, board game nights and live music performances all help make the space feel more welcoming.

"I don't know the answer, but the only thing that seems to work is activity," Ball said. "We try really hard to promote activities that create people and moving about. I don't think we're solving the problem at that point, you're just pushing the problem to somewhere else."

Since opening The Coffee Ethic 16 years ago, Billionis said she has see members of the unhoused community gathering in groups on the square. In that time, she said she's seen a real need for public restrooms and water sources, for both those with and without housing.

"Implementing these public facilities also indirectly helps the businesses downtown," she added.

A desire for more retail

As of August, retail made up less than 15% of the businesses downtown, according to Worley, and folks have taken notice.

"If it was just me, I would like to see more retail places during the day," said John Sellars, executive director emeritus of the History Museum on the Square. "Until the restaurants kick in late in the afternoon, there's not a lot (to do). I'd like to see ways to generate better foot traffic during the day."

Sellars, who's had an intimate relationship with downtown for several decades, said he misses the higher concentration of giftshops and clothing stores the area used to have.

"I think it (downtown) has its moments and it's doing better, but I would like to see venues where people could support it more because I think there are people who would if it was more than just a bar and restaurant area."

As one of downtown's few retailers, Bookmarx owner Josh Arnett echoed Sellars.

"I feel like there's not enough retail downtown because it is mostly the other stuff (restaurants and bars)."

Long-term goals: Development, more image enhancement

In addition to smaller projects like the introduction of the pocket park and addition of over-street lighting, the DSA and CID are continually discussing long-term goals. Perhaps one of the largest is development.

Ball said much the downtown's vacancy is due to the need for renovations in older buildings, not a lack of interest in the area.

"By in large, if there's a space that you could open a business in tomorrow, those things tend to fill up pretty quick," he said. "The ones that we have sitting around are tough."

These buildings that are "sitting around" include the Newberry building, the building that formerly housed Tempo at 215 S. Campbell Ave. and the large building at 220 W. Walnut St., diagonal from Springy Jeans. They require significant amounts of improvement that would be costly.

But several large development projects have been ongoing in recent years, including the transformation of the former News-Leader office and press facility to a drive-in self-storage business and the development of the Medical Arts Building into the Moxy Hotel, which is expected to open in February.

More: After years of 'twists and turns,' downtown Moxy Hotel to open by mid-February

Worley also expressed excitement about several public works investments, including Grant Avenue Parkway, Renew Jordan Creek and the city's acquisition of Hammons Field.

"All of those ... are done intentionally with the idea of not just improving the public spaces but attracting private development," Worley said.

Another long-range project that the CID hopes to roll out soon is the establishment of gateway entrances to downtown, similar to the large, blue "417" sculpture outside of the CID office at the corner of Chestnut Expressway and Boonville Avenue.

For sculptures to be added on the southern, eastern and western sides of downtown, Ball said the CID plans to work with Sculpture Walk Springfield to host a nationwide design competition to connect with artists across the country.

Funding and implementation of this project are still in the works. Ball told the News-Leader in August that the CID will be looking for individuals with complete proposals, who can both design and construct the sculptures.

Effects of Jefferson Avenue construction

Though complete now, the months-long construction along Jefferson Avenue between St. Louis and Walnut Streets was a significant drag for nearby businesses and the effects are still lingering. The city broke ground in mid-March on the streetscape improvements, which weren't completed until August, two months later than the city initially planned.

For much of the five-month-long project, single, one-way traffic remained open along Jefferson Avenue, but traversing along St. Louis, McDaniel and Walnut Streets was restricted.

While construction was ongoing, the News-Leader spoke with business owners including Eleanor Taylor of Prairie Pie, who expressed frustration with the delayed project, describing it as "disastrous" to business.

Bookmarx' Arnett made a handful of posts to the bookstore's social media accounts during the construction expressing his unhappiness with how long the project was taking. But in hindsight, Arnett said the aftermath wasn't as bad as he expected.

"The worst part for me was I just wanted to know when it was going to end," Arnett told the News-Leader in November. "The only way that we were getting updates was through the DSA, they were sending us stuff. Once we knew what it was going to be, it was like, 'Okay, now we can kind of just plan for it to be like this for the whole summer.'"

More: Author James Patterson sends $500 bonus to Springfield's Bookmarx in time for holidays

Arnett said after a few weeks of the construction getting started, business wasn't "so terrible."

"We had the advantage of where, for the most part, we get college students and foot traffic," Arnett said. "Most people don't drive here, specifically to come here. It wasn't that huge of a dent, where it was for some of the other food places specifically, where people need to be able to drive there."

How has downtown evolved over 50+ years?

The amount of business and foot traffic in downtown Springfield has ebbed and flowed for decades, with varying plans for how to develop the area.

In the late 1960s, Springfield officials were looking to expand downtown's market value, especially with the onset of development at Battlefield Mall. The land at the intersection of Battlefield Road and Glenstone Avenue was leased for the shopping center in 1966, according to previous News-Leader reporting, and construction was completed by 1970. Simultaneously, downtown was getting a much-needed facelift.

In the early 1970s, the Downtown Springfield Association raised more than $500,000 to construct a "pedestrian mall" at what is now known as Park Central Square, Sellars said. Previously, the square served as a parking lot, so this development allowed for the implementation of greenery and the fountain.

During this time, JCPenney, Sears, Montgomery Ward and Zales were all located on the square, Sellers said. There was even discussion of constructing walkable canopies along the square, allowing for there to be two stories worth of retail stores. But the opening of Battlefield Mall "dried it all up," as these stores relocated to the 1.2 million-square-foot shopping center. With an influx of vacant storefronts, more restaurants and bars opened downtown.

In an effort to redirect shoppers back to the square, city officials infamously decided to restrict the square to pedestrian traffic only. Despite backlash from some community members, vehicle access to the square from Jefferson Avenue, McDaniel Street, Olive Street and Campbell Avenue was blocked.

Sellars said the pedestrian-only development "didn't work well" and only lasted for about a year and a half before traffic was re-routed around the square.

Downtown remained quiet for quite some time, as historic attractions like the Gillioz Theatre, which closed in 1980, were shuttered.

"There wasn't a lot going on downtown, unless you wanted to eat or drink," Sellars said about downtown throughout the 1990s. "It wasn't dead, but it was on life support."

For the most part, downtown has bounced back, which Sellars credited to the restoration of the Gillioz Theatre (the theater reopened in 2006), opening of Hotel Vandivort in 2015, and addition of more residential space as buildings that once housed offices and retailers were renovated into loft apartments.

"It had been kind of hot and cold ...," Sellars said, "Then, the old office building was converted into (Hotel) Vandivort and that's really been a big help, as far as bringing other activities downtown."

Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretacrossphoto. Story idea? Email her at gcross@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Business owners yearn for more retail in downtown Springfield