Opinion: Heer’s is and Heer’s what could have been

The Heer’s building is open for business. Let me repeat that: The Heer’s is open.

I’ve been a Springfieldian since 2000, so I’ve never seen an ounce of productive activity come from that specific corner of Park Central Square. Call me a skeptic, but I never thought I’d see this day.

But now, I tip my cap to the Kansas City-based team led by developer Jim Nichols, as well as the city officials who have spearheaded the deal.

On my calendar, I have circled Oct. 20. That’s when I’m interviewing Nichols for Springfield Business Journal’s 12 People You Need To Know editorial breakfast series.

Partly for interview prep and partly for the sake of actually stepping foot into the Heer’s building, I joined colleagues on a media tour in April. Unfortunately, I missed last week’s historic ribbon-cutting and news conference.

But as I walked through the partially complete Heer’s, I was reminded of a pie in the sky architectural plan for the building once upon a time. In 2007, SBJ followed young architects Michael Mardis and Jason Mitchell through their first year in business as theworkshop 308 LLC. (This was entrepreneurial coverage before Springfield had widespread startup buzz.)

A motivating thought for theworkshop’s designs was “what if?” So we ran with it. One installment of the series covered their conceptual designs of Springfield landmarks, and of course, the Heer’s was top of mind. Mardis and Mitchell got to sketching and came up with a purely conceptual rendering if money and resources were no objects.

As we welcome a new era of Heer’s with 80 apartments and a national health care information technology commercial tenant, here’s a look at a “what if?” redevelopment plan, from the June 4, 2007, issue of SBJ:

“A renovation of the original Heer’s building, plus a 23-story high-rise with sustainable elements, such as solar, wind and water collection, and low-impact building materials. The idea is that the Heer’s development would become a billboard to promote low-impact development in this region.”

The concept included 10 floors for retail, an international university and commercial offices; eight floors for a boutique hotel; eight floors for residential use; and three floors for mechanical use, along with a top-floor lounge.

I wonder what Housing and Urban Development would say to that finance proposal.

It was a fun exercise with a little realism and professional skills mixed with a big dose of dreaming. And why not? Though it was a far-fetched idea, it’s now a part of Heer’s history, one of many quirky moments on its way to new life.

I like to think of the Heer’s “what if” as its teenage years. Now, it’s in full blossom with at least 30 percent residential leased and 70 IntrinsiQ LLC employees moving in to a new office around Nov. 1.

Beware of the news
File this next item under “Don’t believe everything you see and read on the Internet.”

Have you seen the headline “ALERT: Over 7 Tons of Bananas Recalled from Walmart Due to Parasitic Worms”? Click the link and a 44-second, home video-quality clip shows a close-up of a small worm traveling down a peeled banana. An Aug. 9 Facebook post shows a picture of the outside of a Wal-Mart store with a breaking news label and the banana video overlaid in the corner. There are no reporters speaking or studio production. In three days, the video had 64,871 views and many moms worried for the health of their families.

The story says the home videographer alerted the World Health Organization. There is a lot of information in the article, including a description of Schistosomiasis and a warning that those with symptoms should take themselves to the hospital. However, there is not a single source in the story, quoted or otherwise – no health expert addressing the scare, no Wal-Mart spokesperson acknowledging the recall, no consumers talking about their experience.

The story is false. Snopes.com snuffed it out.

The only substance to this is the Facebook posts and YouTube views. And that’s strictly what the content producer is after. There’s even the instruction to “Inform Your Friends!” below the headline. This is an alarming trend in the fast-paced social media world. We lose an eye for discernment. Our thumbs move and scroll so fast.

The story was posted by Now8 News. Other headlines on the so-called news site are “Researchers Study Shows Blondes ‘To Die Out In 200 Years” and “Authorities: Searching For Father Who Is Supplying This Toddler With Cigarettes” labeled as breaking news.

Checking the site Aug. 13, the banana parasite headline is nowhere to be found. On a cached article page, it says the embedded YouTube video has been removed by the user.

The site needs a cleansing. I’ve done my job. You’ve been warned.

Springfield Business Journal Editor Eric Olson can be reached at eolson@sbj.net.