Springfield Seed |amp| Floral building to house downtown businesses

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Once it's renovated, the old Spring-field Seed & Floral building at 310-314 W. Walnut will be home to The Daily Events, a local publication, and DDEC. net, which promotes dining and entertainment in Springfield's downtown.|ret||ret||tab|

Jeff Schrag is the publisher of The Daily Events, and he's one owner of the Springfield Seed and Floral building. The other owners are Lori Miller, a gra-phic designer at Bass Pro, and Ron Walk-er, owner of Ron Walker Construction. The trio operate as Squires Properties. |ret||ret||tab|

The building has about 7,000 square feet on each of its two floors, plus a full basement. Schrag said he isn't sure when the building was built, but he said lots of work is planned for the structure's living spaces.|ret||ret||tab|

"We started renovations at the end of the summer," Schrag said. "There are eight apartments on the second floor. We're doing some renovating and some cosmetic changes."|ret||ret||tab|

With the exception of one apartment, the building hasn't been vacant, so the partners are renovating each apartment as it becomes available.|ret||ret||tab|

"We're renovating the one apartment that was unoccupied," Schrag said. "When that's done, someone already living in the building will move into the renovated apartment. Then, we'll renovate the apartment where they were living. Our plan is to always have one apartment vacant so it can be renovated."|ret||ret||tab|

The partners also will be working on other areas of the building. New wiring and new plumbing will be put in, and the first-floor will be made handicapped accessible.|ret||ret||tab|

Schrag said he and his partners have run into some expensive problems since renovations began, although the previous owner, Nick Sibley, removed the facade and renovated one of the apartments.|ret||ret||tab|

"There are sewer lines on the first floor, above the drop ceiling," he said. "It's very expensive to fix that. Someone put carpet and tile over the wood floors. We found a staircase that had been covered up with plywood. They were putting an annex on the back of the fireplace. These things weren't done with the idea that someone might want to reverse it someday," Schrag said. |ret||ret||tab|

Schrag said he plans to move The Dai-ly Events to its new home by the end of this year. Securing a home downtown for his company is a key reason for Schrag's involvement with Squires Properties, and with the purchase of the Springfield Seed & Floral building. |ret||ret||tab|

"The future of downtown is bright. I wanted to buy now while I can afford it. I wanted to own a building so I could control my own destiny," he said. |ret||ret||tab|

Susie Wieland of Butler, Rosenbury & Partners is the architect for the project, and Walker is handling the construction.[[In-content Ad]]