Demolition to make way for new Kum & Go

Buildings in the Tower Grove Center are slated to be razed to make way for a new Kum & Go convenience store.

Developer James Tillman, who owns the property at the northeast corner of Glenstone Avenue and Seminole Street, said a portion of the shopping center would be demolished, as well as a stand-alone building currently housing ST Motorsports.

Ariel Rubin, spokesperson for West Des Moines, Iowa-based Kum & Go LC, said its new store at 2150 S. Glenstone Ave. would cost roughly $6.5 million. The new store will not replace another, he added.

Rubin estimated a mid to late 2021 opening, noting Kansas City-based BRR Architecture Inc. is the project architect with civil engineering work by Olsson Inc.

"I'm building it for them and they'll lease it," Tillman said of the new store project.

Tillman said he's working with multiple tenants, including Signs Now and Merry Maids, at the shopping center to relocate them to other properties. Most of the affected tenants would exit by Oct. 15, he said. The Carpet Shoppe and Seminole Decor Center are among businesses that will remain in place at the intersection.

Kum & Go earlier this year confirmed it was working on a new store at 1822 W. Grand St., located nearby a vacant Price Cutter at the Grand and Kansas Expressway intersection. The company has invested more than $140 million in local stores since 2012, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.