Springfield City Council unanimously approved a pair of bills at last night’s meeting to remove blight designations around University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center and Missouri State University.
The bills were designed to eliminate blighted areas where remediation had occurred.
According to Springfield Planning and Development Director Mary Lilly Smith, the University Plaza redevelopment area was established in 1983 and a second tract was added in 1989. It included the former Sears department store, which became the Springfield Exposition Center, and the University Inn motel, which became University Plaza’s convention center.
The MSU blighted district – bordered by Cherry and Grand streets to the north and south and Holland and National avenues to the west and east – dated back to 1965, Smith said at the March 23
public hearing.
A swath of properties west of Holland remain blighted under the proposal.
The blight designation, which requires conditions such as unsafe or unsanitary structures and obsolete platting, has been around since the 1960s, but it gained traction in recent years with area developers largely focused on student-housing projects.
In January, concerns about the prevalence of blight appeared to come to a head when officials for three center city projects simultaneously sought abatements on new improvements in blighted districts. Councilwoman Cindy Rushefsky inquired as to how the city could “unblight” properties that had been remediated, fearing tax breaks could come in the future to developers building in areas where the rundown conditions are no longer present.
At last night’s meeting, Councilman Jerry Compton specifically applauded the measure to remove the blight designation around University Plaza.
“This is an example of how our economic development policies can work,” he said. “One building was empty and the other area was underutilized. With this, we were able to redevelop it into a productive area and spur a lot of development in that area. Now that it’s coming off blight, it will continue to generate revenue.”
New councilAt the tail end of last night’s meeting, four new council members and Mayor Bob Stephens were sworn in following council’s formal approval of the April 7 election results.
Voters elected Justin Burnett, Kristi Fulnecky, Ken McClure and Mike Schilling – and re-elected Stephens – to serve on council.
Justin Burnett, department head for Mardel Christian & Educational Supply Inc., picked up the Zone 2 seat after beating opponents Buckley “Buck” Van Hooser, account executive with Journal Broadcast Group, and Josh Mareschal, a civil litigation attorney and president of the Rountree PTA. Serving central and northeast Springfield, Burnett succeeds Cindy Rushefsky, who held the administrative post for eight years.
Fulnecky, an attorney who owns construction management firm Fulnecky Enterprises LLC, fills General Council Seat C, which was vacated by Councilman Doug Burlison. Fulnecky defeated former real estate broker Len Eagleburger in the April 7 election. Burlison first joined council as an at-large member in April 2007.
Missouri State University Vice President for Administrative and Information Services Ken McClure takes General Seat D, which was vacated by Mike Carroll. McClure ran unopposed. Carroll joined council in 2013, filling the seat vacated by Nick Ibarra.
Former state Rep. Mike Schilling will represent Zone 3, covering central and southwest Springfield, after beating Councilman Compton. Compton had served on the governing body since 2009, when he replaced former Councilman Ralph Manley.
Mayor Stephens beat out opponent Steven Reed, a former Dillions bagger and part-time political consultant. Stephens has been mayor since May 2012, when former Mayor Jim O’Neal resigned. Stephens joined council as an at-large member in April 2009 before becoming mayor pro-tem in 2011.[[In-content Ad]]
