City clerk deems Hotel of Terror petition sufficient for ballot measure

SBJ File

Hotel of Terror has been in operation in downtown Springfield for 47 years.

A referendum petition seeking to halt seizure of a downtown Springfield haunted attraction has been deemed sufficient by City Clerk Anita Cotter.

Sterling and Melissa Mathis, owners of the Hotel of Terror, collected enough signatures to put a referendum before voters in the city of Springfield. That referendum would ask them to halt the seizure and demolition of the haunted attraction, which has been an entertainment venue at 334 N. Main Ave. for 47 years.

In her letter to Sterling Mathis, Cotter said today that the petition submitted by Mathis contained the required 1,499 signatures of qualified electors.

“Therefore, I certify the petition is found to be sufficient,” she wrote.

It took Mathis two tries to get the required number of signatures, with an additional 10 days provided, in accordance with city code, to reach the required number.

In a phone interview this afternoon, Mathis said that he intends to take the issue all the way to the ballot box, unless the city reverses its course.

“We’re just going to see what the city has to say now,” he said. “We’ve done everything that we have been required to do, so now we’re going to see what they’re going to do.”

This is not the first time the city has declared eminent domain and intent to seize the Hotel of Terror, and the last attempt was halted after the successful petition was submitted. Then, council rescinded its eminent domain resolution, with Mathis having an amended petition deemed sufficient on April 10, 2023, and council voting to repeal its eminent domain declaration a month later, on May 15, and avoiding what was estimated at the time to be a $250,000 cost.

Mathis turned in 2,407 signatures on Jan. 9, with the requirement of 1,499 verified signatures to get the item on an upcoming citywide ballot. The target number is based on voter numbers in the most recent citywide election, the single-issue April 2025 election, which had a 7% voter turnout.

Cotter was able to certify only 1,374 of the submitted signatures, she informed the owners in a Jan. 29 letter.

That meant the effort fell short by 125 signatures, triggering a 10-day period to collect the remainder and keep the referendum effort alive. Mathis turned in 393 additional signatures on Feb. 9.

Mathis said he does not know when a ballot measure might appear before voters, but he said he believes the window has closed to get on the April ballot alongside a downtown convention center tax measure. According to the Missouri secretary of state website, the final certification date for the April 7 ballot was Jan. 27.

He said the process this time around took longer than before.

“Before, when we turned them in, they gave us an answer right away, but this time they waited until the last day both times,” he said, referring to the initial turn-in of signatures and the resubmission.

He added, “It looks bad.”

The city clerk met the code-determined deadline for the signature count on both occasions.