Four organizations focused on drawing visitors to Springfield have some new tax money to spend.
Springfield City Council unanimously approved a resolution Oct. 21 naming The Discovery Center of Springfield, History Museum on the Square, Springfield Little Theatre and Springfield Art Museum as recipients of the hotel-motel tax revenue previously earmarked for Bass Pro Shops’ Wonders of Wildlife museum.
The organizations are now slated to receive more than $220,000 combined for projects designed to attract visitors, according to the resolution presented at the meeting.
The bulk of the tax money, $125,000, will go to support exhibit installation at the History Museum’s new location on Park Central Square. Springfield Little Theatre was awarded $45,323 for balcony improvements; the Springfield Art Museum was allocated $27,351 for climate control upgrades; and the Discovery Center was awarded $22,500 to purchase a bed-of-nails exhibit demonstrating physics.
In 1998, voters approved a 2.5-cent increase in the hotel-motel tax in support of capital improvement projects. In 1999, the city entered into an agreement with WOW, directing a portion of that increase to the museum’s operational budget.
In November 2011, roughly four years into renovations at the museum, WOW gifted that designated tax revenue back to the city. A year later, council members voted to direct 40 percent of the roughly $330,000 a year WOW was receiving to pay down the city’s obligations to improvements at Jordan Valley Park and to send 60 percent of the revenue to local nonprofits working to increase tourism and business development – areas it deemed were in line with the intention of the original voter-approved tax increase.
As part of the city’s plan to split the museum’s funds, it established the Hotel-Motel Tax Reallocation Committee, which was charged with fielding grant requests before selecting award recipients.
Louise Knauer, senior vice president of communications and marketing for Community Foundation of the Ozarks and interim chairwoman of the reallocation committee, said 12 agencies expressed an interest and seven submitted letters of intent.
“The committee invited four of those to submit full applications. It decided three of the projects outlined in the letters of intent didn’t meet the application criteria,” Knauer said. “The criteria includes a location within the city limits of Springfield, whether the project is a capital improvement and whether the outcomes could lead to increased visitor attendance and its associated economic impact.”
Before the vote, architect Allen Casey, a representative for the History Museum, said the funds would help back its $20 million renovation plans.
“This year’s revenue will be hugely beneficial to both expedite the project and show municipal support as we approach other entities for funding assistance,” Casey said. “Even the interim exhibit now on the square, the Route 66 exhibit, has been a wonderful success drawing people from 27 states and 21 countries.”
Ron Spigelman, Springfield Little Theatre’s director of development and marketing, told council he hoped the balcony renovations at Landers Theatre would wrap up before the planned boutique Hotel Vandivort opens next door.
“If you’ve ever sat in the balcony of the Springfield Little Theatre and you are taller than 4 feet, then you might have been a little uncomfortable up there,” Spigelman said. “Typically, the downstairs sells out, leaving only balcony available for performances. This is going to allow people to visit here and have an excellent experience.”
Brewery District The Brewery District Lofts Redevelopment Corp. is asking for 25 years of tax abatement on five vacant downtown parcels, which raised concerns from Councilman Craig Hosmer.
The development group – which includes Donald Babb, CEO of Citizen’s Memorial Healthcare in Bolivar and Christina Chanter, who was one of six who together purchased Springfield Brewing Co. in November 2011 – plans to demolish 535 and 527 W. Walnut St. to build a three-story retail, office and banquet facility with 28 residential apartments on the top two floors. Plans also include renovation of the 521 W. McDaniel St. building into shell space for SBC production expansion and events, as well as remodeling the 507 W. Walnut St. building into a distillery.
Springfield Economic Development Director Mary Lilly Smith introduced the proposal to council and said several blighted conditions existed on the properties, allowing the developers to receive tax abatement under state statutes. Blighted conditions include roof damage, mold, broken windows and the presence of lead paint and asbestos.
Smith said the developers are seeking 100 percent tax abatement on the properties for 10 years and 50 percent abatement for years 11–25.
Hosmer said the city’s taxing districts could be the loser if the abatement is approved.
“It seems like if somebody wants something blighted, the city blights it. There are sections of the city all over Springfield that could be blighted,” Hosmer said. “It just seems like we keep taking tax revenue away from our schools, away from our services that we provide and to me, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
Smith said city staff often turn away requests for blighted designations before they make it to council.
According to a tax impact analysis required with the redevelopment plan, the city would collect $517,580 of additional property tax revenue during the next 25 years, based on the proposed improvements that would be taxed after the first 10 years.
Council is expected to vote on the measure at its Nov. 4 meeting.
Developers of a mixed-use area in downtown Springfield that would feature apartments, a distillery and expansion for Springfield Brewing Co. are asking for a 25-year tax abatement.
