City issues RFQ for Jordan Creek daylighting project

The city of Springfield issued a request for qualifications for a long-discussed project that would daylight Jordan Creek downtown.

The city is calling on engineering and architecture firms to submit proposals by the end of business on July 15. The project, called Renew Jordan Creek, would modify the existing Jordan Creek floodplain and floodway areas by removing concrete structures that keep it below ground, according to a news release.

"As a downtown Springfield amenity, there has been a good deal of community interest in daylighting Jordan Creek with the expectation that this could be something terrific and along the lines of what we’ve seen larger cities do with their urban waterways,” said Tim Rosenbury, director of quality of place initiatives for the city, in the release.

The daylighting of Jordan Creek is among priorities in the city's latest 20-year plan, called Forward SGF.

The first planned phase of the project would focus on the urbanized center of Jordan Valley Park. It's bordered by Boonville Avenue on the east, Water Street on the south, Main Avenue on the west and Mill Street on the north, according to the release.

The daylighting project, Rosenbury said, is an "integral piece" of two other placemaking initiatives: Missouri State University's expanded IDEA Commons area downtown and a planned pedestrian and bicycle pathway along Grant Avenue from downtown to Bass Pro Shops.