City Beat: City, owners reach purchase agreement for Hotel of Terror

The city of Springfield has reached an agreement with the owners of the Hotel of Terror, averting a citywide ballot measure.

City Manager David Cameron made the announcement of the agreement during his report to City Council May 18.

Cameron said the city would pay $2 million to owners Sterling and Melissa Mathis for the property at 334 N. Main Ave. and would delay its possession until Jan. 1, 2027, to allow the haunted attraction to run for one last Halloween season.

The Hotel of Terror has been operating in downtown Springfield since 1978.

On March 23, council unanimously voted to move forward with a referendum submitted by the owners to challenge the city’s declaration of eminent domain to seize the property. The ballot item was scheduled for the Aug. 4 election, but with a sale agreement reached, council will now begin the process of removing the referendum from the ballot.

Cameron expressed appreciation to the Mathises for continuing to work with the city.

“I want to thank the Mathises for staying at the table to continue to work and discuss about ways that we were able to proceed forward,” Cameron said.

In a statement, Sterling Mathis indicated the agreement followed difficult years for the Hotel of Terror team.

“After years of uncertainty and legal challenges, our family has decided to settle and move forward,” he said. “This has been an emotional and exhausting experience, and the stress has greatly affected our family, especially my wife’s health.”

He said the settlement amount makes it impossible to rebuild the Hotel of Terror.

“We are grateful to everyone in the community who has supported us and stood by us through the years,” he said.

An explanation from the city sets a special meeting for May 26 to dispose of the ordinance calling for a referendum election on the Aug. 4 ballot.

To comply with state law and with certification deadline provisions in the city charter, council will shift the referendum to November while approving the real estate contract, repealing the eminent domain ordinance and canceling the referendum in a council bill to be introduced on June 8 with a vote set for June 22, the explanation states.

The agreement will also allow the owners to secure bricks from the property, which Cameron referred to in his remarks as historic.

The contract states that the city will instruct its demolition contractor to segregate and stack salvaged whole bricks in an area separate from rubble, debris and unusable materials. It specifies that the city makes no warranty or representation as to the quantity, condition or fitness of the bricks.

Animal control code
Council held the first reading of a code update that would put teeth in the city’s animal control enforcement.

Katie Towns, director of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, outlined the changes, which are set for a vote June 8.

“I know that this has been a source of frustration for quite some time, and we have felt that as well,” she said. “I think that the proposal that we have in front of you tonight will bring about some substantive changes.”

Towns said animal numbers are increasing throughout the community, and she said the responsibilities of pet ownership can be hard to follow.

“Owning a pet does require a great deal of time, energy and responsibility, and the disruptions when those things are not followed can be in multitude, including things that affect our individuals in the community and in the neighborhood, threatening safety and mental and physical well-being of our neighborhoods,” she said.

Towns said the purposes of animal control are twofold – first, to focus on safety primarily of humans but also of animals, and second, to control rabies in the community. She noted that rabies exists in the community.

“For us it is important that we make sure that we prioritize this as part of the approach,” she said.

Towns said the animal control program has eight officers serving the entire county, covering 675 square miles, more than 300,000 people and 130,000 households.

“We are hardly ever fully staffed, but we do have a great deal of commitment from the officers who remain, and we’re in the process of looking to hire again now,” she said.

Shelter capacity is 34 kennels for dogs with 19 for cats, though a new facility to open later this summer will offer more capacity.

Towns said the most demanding calls with the highest volume are for loose animals, and the proposed changes should reduce the number of those incidents.

Towns said over 14,000 calls are received per year, and 510 animal bites are investigated. On average, 364 citations are issued. She acknowledged that 364 citations for 14,000 calls is a vast difference.

“With these proposed changes, we do hope to decrease that division,” she said.

Among substantial revisions to Chapter 18 of the city code is a criminal process for reckless owners, defined in the proposed bill as a person who has been issued four citations within a 24-month period or has been determined to have committed animal cruelty.

The proposed code change also restricts those who are found to be reckless owners from owning or possessing any animal for a period of five years.

The update also would allow a Springfield Municipal Court judge to issue a search and seizure warrant or an order to hold an animal.

Each reckless owner violation is to be punished as a separate offense, under the code revision. Punishments for code violations would carry a minimum fine of $400 for each violation. The sentencing judge may also order probation of no less than 720 days plus a minimum of 50 hours of public service.

The code revision bill says failure to surrender animals will result in prosecution and impoundment of the animal, which can be disposed of through euthanasia or release to a licensed and contracted rescue organization. A dog declared vicious would be euthanized under the proposed code revision, with the owner paying the costs.

The revisions would also bulk up protections against community exposure to rabies by requiring dogs to display a rabies tag and requiring proof of vaccination upon request when a dog is suspected of biting or scratching a person. The minimum fine for not providing proof of vaccination is at least $200 per violation with the possibility of probation of at least a year and a minimum of 20 hours of community service work. A jail sentence may also be authorized.

The code revision would fine people $50 for each violation of a dog running at large.

Budget bill
Council held the first reading and public hearing of the proposed city budget for fiscal 2027, which begins July 1. A vote is scheduled for June 8.

David Holtmann, director of finance, said the budget is proposed at $560 million, up about $30 million from the current year, with about one-third of the revenue derived from sales and use tax.

He said department heads in the city submitted $40 million worth of budget requests, with about $15 million of that proposed for 90 staff positions. The budget proposes only 2.5 positions and proposes granting $5.6 million of budget requests.

Other action items
• The annexation of 1 acre of property at 2852 W. Republic Road was approved. The owner, Coorts Coffee 1 LLC, intends to rezone for commercial use.

• The rezoning of a 0.2-acre tract at 1125 E. Thoman St. to mixed-density neighborhood from heavy manufacturing was approved. Applicant Barrera Family Properties LLC intends to build a duplex on the lot.

• Council postponed until June 8 a vote on the scheduled five-year remapping of an east-west arterial route between U.S. Highway 65 and Riverbluff Boulevard to Kissick Avenue for future public street improvements. The body intends to invite a representative from Greene County to that meeting to weigh in on the measure, as much of the route is located outside of the city limits.

• A $30,000 allocation was approved to develop public stormwater infrastructure along West Poplar Street between North Weaver and North Broadway avenues for the Drew Lewis Foundation Inc.