Council supports convention center proposal 

Last edited 3:21 p.m., July 15, 2025 [Editor's note: An incorrect word in a quote has been fixed.]

Springfield City Council expressed agreement in principle to pursue a downtown convention center, as recommended in a report from Chicago-based consultant Hunden Partners Inc., at a luncheon meeting today. 

The agreement reached today comes a week after Mayor Jeff Schrag told council at a luncheon that he envisioned the project being in place by 2028. The Hunden Partners report was presented to council on July 7, after a $30 million earmark for the convention center was put under restricted spending in Gov. Mike Kehoe’s budget signed June 30. 

At today’s luncheon, Councilmember Bruce Adib-Yazdi raised the question of how Schrag’s timeline goal could be achieved while following required procurement and request for proposal practices. 

Nevertheless, Adib-Yazdi said council should move forward. 

“There’s absolutely an opportunity in front of us,” he said, adding the city does not want to miss the opportunity for $30 million in funding from the state. 

 Adib-Yazdi added, however, that there is a matter of urgency to the next steps, particularly if the city is looking to deploy its own property for the project. 

“We should get our ducks in a row,” he said, referring to due diligence the city will need to perform before it enters the RFP process for construction. 

Other council members voicing support were Brandon Jenson, who said he would like to dig in more to the ongoing operational costs and the right structure for handling those. 

Councilmember Callie Carroll said she would love to move forward. 

“It’s a huge, huge opportunity for not just Springfield but our region,” she said. 

Councilmember Craig Hosmer also said he definitely supports the plan. 

Councilmember Monica Horton said council should examine the fiscal impact of the city managing the property versus it being farmed out to a third party. She called it a sticking point in the conversation moving forward. 

“Our municipality is very well capable of managing a project like this, given the fact that we manage other types of public property and amenities that those who visit our city take advantage of, but also those who reside here,” she said. 

City Manager David Cameron said the next step would be to look for funding opportunities and begin the initial processes needed to secure an architect and engineers for the project. 

He added that the city has to follow its procurement policy, and that will take some time.