'Better Late Than Never': Rogersville grows

New businesses, retail opportunities and a new school building are in the works for the town east of Springfield that has less than 2,500 people.

“We’re still affordable, we’re the next place to boom as a suburb around Springfield, and it still has a hometown feel to it,” said Bret Herrman, president of the Rogersville Chamber of Commerce. “At this point, where else are you going to go to get all that? I’m surprised it’s taken this long, but it’s better late than never.”

Sure sign

One sure way to tell the growth of a community is to look at its public schools – and Logan-Rogersville’s expansive school district is bursting at the seams with 4,300 students.

“We’re on top of each other,” said Toni Bass, principal of the district’s primary school, which has added four trailers on the grounds.

The district is preparing to build an $8 million early childhood center to ease overcrowding. The new school, funded through a no-tax-increase bond issue approved by voters earlier this year, will be within Jamestown, a 203-acre mixed-use planned community under development by American Equities of Missouri Inc. at U.S. Highway 60 and Business Route 60.

Jamestown will have 150 single-family lots, while two other AEM subdivisions nearby – Capitol Hill and Liberty Square – will contain 180 and 188 residential units, respectively.

Stephen Cope, president and chief operating officer of AEM Inc., said interest has been strong in the development – five commercial parcels have been pre-sold and will contain a strip center, a gas station/convenience store and an office building, though he declined to disclose tenant names.

“It was just an ideal location, to pick up 200 acres right on the freeway,” Cope said of Jamestown. “We saw Rogersville growing toward Springfield. … Nixa and Ozark have gotten built up, and a lot of people are telling us that Rogersville is the next sleepy town to start growing. So we think we’re there at the right time.”

Plans originally called for the group to break ground in 2004 and complete the development by 2010. While ground breaking was delayed due to approval of a new traffic signal at the entrance to the development – a requirement from the group’s lender to finalize funding – the group is still on pace to complete the first phase of the residential build-out within 18 months and the commercial portion of the project by 2010.

Part of the draw for these and other residential developments is the work the city has done to improve its infrastructure. Citizens approved a $5.25 million bond issue to improve the city’s water treatment facilities, according to Rogersville Mayor Jack Cole. The city also received a $3.4 million low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program for the water treatment project.

Cole, who is in the middle of his third term as mayor, said he knew that growth was on the way for the community.

“When I ran for office, I made the point clearly that we were going to grow – it was just a matter of whether we’d be prepared for that growth or not,” Cole said. “We’re working to do everything we can to be prepared.”

Business growth

Several businesses are joining the community or expanding.

Plato-based Legacy Bank and Trust has received federal regulatory approval to build a new full-service banking facility near Highway 60 and Mill Street. State approval for the branch is pending.

Scott Harris, president of the bank’s Sparta branch, said Rogersville fits the company’s profile. The bank has three branches in Plato, Sparta and Mountain Grove.

“Rogersville is the same type of town as our other communities,” Miller said. “Plus, we saw the growth potential there and everything that’s taking off there in Rogersville.”

Jon’s Mid-America Fire Apparatus is constructing a 16,000-square-foot facility on Highway 60 east of S&H Farm Supply.

The company has been building and repairing fire trucks and apparatus in Rogersville for 30 years, and officials want to consolidate into one building from three, according to owner Jim Keltner.

“Our business is growing, we like the Rogersville area, and we plan on staying there,” Keltner said.

O’Reilly Auto Parts also is expanding its presence, building a standalone store across the street from the proposed Legacy Bank. The company has a store in a strip center, a few hundred feet from its new location, which will be closed, according to Dave Turney, O’Reilly’s director of internal audit. He said access and increased square footage were the key factors in the new location, which should be open by the end of July.

The chamber’s Herrman said he’s surprised new development hasn’t happened sooner. Several factors play in the town’s favor, most notably Highway 60, he said. In fact, Jon’s Mid-America, O’Reilly and Legacy Bank all pointed to the visibility and traffic of the highway as drawing factors for their new plans.

“The city of Rogersville hasn’t developed like others – Nixa, Ozark, Republic – and part of that is that when you come east from Springfield, it seems like a long way out,” Mayor Cole added. “In reality, 10 miles isn’t a long way on a four-lane highway.”[[In-content Ad]]