Commercial Street ideas for TIF plan considered



Adding parking, acquiring buildings among proposals.



John Taylor

News-Leader



More parking, improvements to the footbridge plaza and a business loan program are among the projects that could be included in a plan to redevelop Commercial Street.

Details of that plan were revealed at a meeting hosted by city Planning and Zoning staff members and consultant Fred May at the Cook's Kettle on Commercial on Thursday.



A redevelopment plan is a step required by the state before a tax-increment financing district can be formed in a city.



City officials have proposed using TIF to fund improvements on Commercial.



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I have heard rumors, rumors mind you, that John Q Hammons has a plan to redevelop Commercial Street.



Whatever one may think about Hammons, he certainly has the resources to pull off something major, but the jury is still out for me on wether or not this would be a good idea.



Anyone else from the Springfield area heard much about this? I must confess this is simply info from a guy I know who lives on Commercial Street, but seeing as how John Q has a hand in many of the cookie jars in this town, it might not be too much of a stretch.

Welcome to the forum, Joel! It's good to see someone from Springfield on the forum. I visit the city frequently, and I love what's being done with downtown (particularly Park Central Square once work on Heer's and redoing the square finally gets underway), and Commercial Street.



Hammons getting involved in Commercial Street would be interesting. On one hand, he's got the experience, deep pockets, and passion for Springfield to pull it off. OTOH, I worry that a Hammons plan to improve C-Street could become bloated and strip the street of its character. Part of the area's charm is the organic way in which it's being redeveloped, one building at a time. There seems to be an eclectic vibe emerging there, and I'd hope that any plans large or small to continue improvements to the street takes its emerging charcter into account.



Sounds like this is one more Springfield-related development for me to watch! Thanks for posting!

I have similar feelings about John Q. I love what he's been able to do with donating money and building new things, but I can't help but think of another rumor (sorry, hopefully this will be the last one) that has been circulating around the MSU campus. Apparently there were several designs for their new basketball arena, and one was thought to have been decided on that was the most popular with the students and the community. However, John Q reportedly persuaded the University to change the final design to suit his liking, since it would of course bear his name and be built with 35 million of his dollars.

I don't want to bash John Q because he has indeed done much for the community, but rumors like this make me wonder, as you do ThreeOneFour, if Commercial Street's character and vibe could be lost due to the influence of one man.

But only time will tell. I live in the neighborhood between C Street and Downtown (aka Midtown) and would love to see both areas revitalized to their fullest potential.