Doubt the power of an idea?
Ten years ago, the citizens of Springfield said they wanted a civic park for future generations to rediscover center city. Today, thousands of families flock to Jordan Valley Park to play in the outdoor fountain, skate at Mediacom Ice Park and experience the arts at The Creamery. Across the street, half-a-million fans cheer on the Springfield Cardinals each summer at Hammons Field.
Five years ago, a 100-year-old feed mill sat vacant as a relic to the Ozarks’ agrarian heritage. Today, Missouri State University has invested more than $22 million in the facility with another $30 million in equipment and machinery to create an urban research park. More than 80 people with average salaries of $65,000 are employed at Jordan Valley Innovation Center through alliances with six corporate affiliates.
JVIC rapidly inspired a much broader vision for the area which encompasses innovation, design, entrepreneurship, and art (hence the IDEA acronym).
The IDEA Commons – stretching from Chestnut Expressway to the north, Washington Avenue to the east, Olive Street to the south and Campbell Avenue to the west – was expanded to include the MSU Art and Design Department at a former ice house; five former city-owned properties near JVIC; the former Willow Brook Foods processing plant, which recently received a $2.75 million federal grant for an entrepreneurship and business development center; the Missouri state crime lab; and the Jordan Valley Community Health Center.
MSU’s IDEA Commons also has attracted private investment, including:
• Advertising agency Marlin leasing 8,000 square feet in Brick City (occupancy this fall)
• McQueary family office building renovation (opening later this year at Boonville and Water)
• St. John’s Inveno commercial products development storefront
• Obelisk Home and Unleashed Life retail store
• Taylor-Martin Enterprises corporate office (plus seven loft live/work spaces)
• Boonville Lofts (38 apartments)
The most encouraging news is that this momentum won’t stop when Michael Nietzel steps down as MSU president at the end of this year. The university is committed to supporting the work of the JVIC partners, renovating the Willow Brook facility and expanding its art department into a second building at Brick City.
The IDEA Commons and Jordan Valley represent more than bricks and mortar. Both projects demonstrate our ability to reinvent ourselves, to take pride in our community and to foster public-private partnerships to convert visions into reality. In trying economic times such as these, the most powerful tool we can wield is cultivating scores of new ideas.
What will be the next big idea for center city?
No one knows for certain, but the “what” will likely be predicated on the “how.” Nietzel’s concept for intentionally developing an area to attract more intelligent and creative people to live and work together already has proven its ability to yield powerful results.
Rusty Worley, executive director of Urban Districts Alliance, can be reached at rusty@itsalldowntown.com.[[In-content Ad]]
