Drury mulls mill options

A Drury architectural student team that developed six basic strategies for using the land met March 17 with an advisory group of university representatives and community figures to analyze and refine those strategies.

At the heart of the land use are two key elements: the century-old Tindle Mills plant now occupying the site and the site’s existing flood plain.

The six strategies come with several options regarding how many of the Tindle grain elevators, silos, towers and warehouses, if any, will be kept on the site; how much of the land will be used for public purposes; and how much will be used for Drury’s purposes.

The estimated value of the land is $10 million, according to Jay Garrott, professor of architecture with Drury, which in 2005 announced the land as a gift – the largest in school history. The land transfer will be official in 2007 after the donor company, ADM Alliance Nutrition, finishes relocating Tindle operations to its plant site at 1300 W. Locust St.

The acquisition of Tindle and several other feed companies led to the creation of ADM Alliance Nutrition in 2002 by agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland.

“We’re still in full production at the Tindle plant,” said Terry Watts, ADM Alliance Nutrition plant manager. He added that the company plans to relocate “as many as possible” of the 35 production employees now working at Tindle to the Locust Street plant, which now has about 20 employees.

The flood plain, estimated at between three and four acres by Garrott, was the major impetus in the land gift. ADM Alliance Nutrition has said that the plain made expanding Tindle operations at the current site impractical, and tax credits accruing from the gift would allow it to transfer Tindle operations to and expand the Locust Street plant.

One feature in all six strategies is the creation of new green space. The site, bounded by Chestnut Expressway, Porter, Central and Summit streets, makes possible extending the Ozark Greenways Trail from Silver Springs Park south through East Chestnut Street to Jordan Valley Park. This would connect Drury, Ozarks Technical Community College and Evangel University and also enable a future extension to Missouri State University, thus linking all four campuses. Another possible green space use is the creation of a wetlands area in the flood plain.

Among possible Drury uses for the site is the construction of an Institute for Sustainability as part of the Hammons School of Architecture.

Architecture student Lalima Chemjong said that sustainability refers to the concept of development to meet present needs without compromising future needs, a major consideration in the Tindle site project. Chemjong, a native of Nepal, is one of the students developing the land strategies. The others are Liz Aiello, Scott Broadbent, Shane Fowler, Kelly Guitarr, and Ron Pancer. All are fourth-year students in Drury’s five-year architecture program.

Chemjong said that the project is much broader in scope than her conventional studies. “It’s more an urban design kind of exercise,” she said. “It’s a pretty cool project –the main push is to keep the area as a green space.”

Other potential uses include building a performing arts center, a center for community studies, a landscape architecture center, an institute for entrepreneurial studies or for the expansion of the current Hammons Architectural School facilities.

Also under consideration is using the land for the construction of a Jordan Valley water feature, for public and bike access under Chestnut Expressway, or for new parking facilities.

Retail development also is an alternative.

“It would be more complicated and would have to be done very carefully, but it’s possible to do retail development in the flood plain as long as the finished floor elevation is one foot above the 100-year flood-plain mark,” Garrott said.

Although the options are still being weighed, one overriding fact is clear: the parcel gives Drury valuable room to grow, a welcome turn of events for both the university and the adjoining Midtown neighborhood.

“It gives them a place to move where they won’t have to be tearing down houses, which is something we’ve been trying to stop for about 20-plus years,” said Steve Wiemer, Midtown Neighborhood Association president and advisory board member. “We’ve lost well over 100 residential properties. It’s great to have that property available to Drury.”

Wiemer characterizes the relations between the neighborhood and Drury today as “excellent.” He said the two parties now have a 10-year-agreement defining Drury’s “footprint in the Midtown area” and calling for consultations with Midtown on any further land acquisitions. The ADM land gift, he said, “helps Drury, it helps our neighborhood, it helps the parks department. Hopefully it helps some businesses in the area.”

Drury President John Sellars said the gift “enables us to look at partnerships with the community and with OTC, so that we can continue to develop further educational programs while at the same time ensuring that we’re good neighbors.”

The next step in the process is a community workshop, scheduled for 1–5 p.m. April 12 at Hammons School of Architecture.

“What we’re going to do,” Garrott said, “is develop those six strategies further. The community workshop will be a discussion of each of those visions and we will ask for suggestions on how to improve them.”

The student design team will then develop recommendations to present to the public, the campus, and the advisory committee at a final meeting on May 9.

“My guess is that on May 9th, the advisory committee will take bits and pieces of each of the schemes and create a hybrid vision,” Garrott said. “The committee will then make final recommendations to President Sellars and his cabinet.”

Six Strategies

Drury architecture professor Jay Garrott detailed the six strategies for using the 8.1-acres Tindle Mills site as follows:

1. Keeping as much of the mills and the warehouses as possible and using all of the remaining property for Drury purposes.

2. Retaining as many of the buildings as possible, using the land outside the flood plain for Drury purposes and determining a public use of the flood plain, perhaps as expansion for Jordan Valley Park or as a wetland area.

3. Removing the mill and all of the warehouses and using all of the land for Drury purposes.

4. Removing all of the buildings, using the area outside the flood plain for Drury purposes and seeing if there is a public use for the flood plain area.

5. Removing parts of the mill, keeping the concrete portions, and using all of the property for Drury purposes.

6. Removing parts of the mill, keeping the towers, using the area outside of the flood plain for Drury purposes, and seeing if there is a public use for the flood plain area.

Advisory Committee

In addition to the Drury representatives, these are the community members serving as part of the advisory group for the Tindle Mills site.

Dave Coonrod, Greene County presiding commissioner

David Roling, vice president for administration and business, Ozarks Technical Community College

Jan Horton, chair, Jordan Valley Park Advisory Committee

Jim Anderson, president, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce

Jodie Adams, director of parks and recreation, City of Springfield

John Twitty, general manager, City Utilities

Loring Bullard, executive director, Watershed Committee of the Ozarks

Norman Myers, president, Ozarks Technical Community College

Norman Ridder, superintendent, Springfield Public Schools

Ralph Rognstad, director of planning and development, City of Springfield

Robert Spence, president, Evangel University

Steve Wiemer, president, Midtown Neighborhood Association

Terry Reynolds, principal, C. Arch Bay Co. and Drury University trustee

Terry Whaley, executive director, Ozark Greenways

Tom Finnie, city manager, City of Springfield[[In-content Ad]]