Council unanimously approves seizure of haunted hotel

Springfield City Council unanimously voted to move ahead with its plans to seize the property that is the site of the haunted attraction known as the Hotel of Terror at its meeting last night.

The council measure did not name the 47-year-old business, instead referring to it as “the structure at 334 N. Main Ave.”

The legislation maintains that the city cannot repair the Main Avenue bridge – rated “poor” by the Missouri Department of Transportation and closed to heavy buses and emergency vehicles – without damaging the building. MoDOT recommends replacement of the bridge, the measure states.

“The structure at 334 N. Main Ave. was constructed immediately adjacent to the Main Avenue bridge, rendering any attempt to replace the Main Avenue bridge without significantly and materially damaging the adjacent structure infeasible,” the council bill states.

The bill states the city and the property owners – Sterling and Melissa Mathis – are at an impasse.

“Despite engaging in good faith negotiations, the city and owner have been unable to agree on the fair market value for the property,” it states.

Sterling Mathis told Springfield Business Journal by phone today that he intends to collect signatures for a referendum to overturn council’s action, as he did once before in 2023, when council responded by repealing its legislation. Mathis has 30 days to acquire 1,499 signatures to get the item on an upcoming ballot under city charter.

Mathis said he does not anticipate any problem getting onto the ballot or with the measure passing by a majority of voters – and he is eager to express his side of the issue.

“When they started this up again, the city gave a 20-minute PowerPoint presentation on why they’ve got to take it,” he said, referring to the first reading and public hearing on Nov. 17. “They let me talk for three minutes and essentially told me to sit down and shut up. A 47-year business, and I couldn’t even respond to what they were saying.”

The eminent domain proceedings would lead to a three-member commission, appointed by a judge, to determine a fair price. A jury could then be asked to determine the price if either party objects to the commission’s determination, according to past SBJ reporting.

The owners’ most recent asking price, in November, was $3.5 million, which they say is the cost of moving the contents of the attraction and renovating a secondary site to meet city code requirements, according to past SBJ reporting. That site, 701 W. Wall St., is where the owners operate another seasonal attraction called Dungeons of Doom.

The Hotel of Terror, in place since 1978, brought in $250,000 this year in its seasonal operation, which amounts to approximately one month leading up to Halloween.

The city offered a contract to purchase the 1904-built property for $2 million in May 2024.

Mathis said the $2 million offer was sufficient at the time, but when he tried to pull permits, the goal post had been moved: the Dungeons of Doom building, which the city formerly classified as Type III-B construction, was now considered Type I-B under the International Building Code.

“I-B is a whole different set of rules,” he said, noting it would require the addition of an elevator and the elimination of any wood in the construction – meaning the building would require a whole new roof and would have to be stripped of wood throughout.

“I have to start from scratch, and it costs money to do that,” he said. “I’ve been trying to get that out, but nobody in the media seems to care.”

Under the newly passed council measure, the seizure would happen through the city’s assertion of the power of eminent domain as it works on a project to bring the buried Jordan Creek back to the surface downtown. Named Renew Jordan Creek, the project is creating a public amenity, including parks and walkways, along the restored stream. The first phase of the project, which began in late 2024, is approximately at its halfway point, according to the Renew Jordan Creek website, which projects a completion date in late 2026.

The bill states that MoDOT’s 2024 inspection of the bridge identified “severe section loss in bottom flanges of steel channel beams with areas of 100% section loss.” This has resulted in the reduction of its load posting to 10 tons.

The bill also states replacement of the bridge would increase stormwater conveyance capacity to reduce flooding between Main and Washington avenues and remove some 50 properties from the floodplain.

The bridge replacement would be paid for in part with federal funds, the measure states.

The bill authorizes the city attorney or a designee to initiate legal proceedings to determine just compensation to acquire the property. It adds, “The officers of the city are further authorized to exercise any and all powers necessary to carry out the terms of this ordinance.”

There was no discussion prior to the unanimous vote, for which a public hearing was held Nov. 17.

In an informal poll of SBJ readers, posted Nov. 19, 59% of 687 respondents supported the use of eminent domain to seize the property.