Crime lab work update

City Manager Bob Cumley said the building, 440 E. Tampa St., has been gutted down to the concrete columns. Flintco Inc. began construction in July.

In May, the $5.9 million project looked like it might not move forward because the Missouri General Assembly didn’t approve $1.9 million in state money necessary for the project. The project was put back on track in June, when Gov. Matt Blunt announced a lease-purchase agreement for the city-owned building. The remaining money has come from a federal grant and low-interest bonds backed by 14 Springfield-area banks.

“It’s a 10-year agreement,” Cumley said of the lease. “The state paid $400,000 in the first payment, and they have 10 years to pay the remaining $1.5 million. Once the $1.9 million is paid, the state will have the option to purchase the building when the bonds are paid off.”

He said he doesn’t anticipate the state will take the entire 10-year period to pay off the money owed.