Springfield City Council is considering two bills regarding the Hotel of Terror building, which the City said it needs in order to replace the Main St. Bridge.
At its meeting Monday night, Springfield Director of Public Works Dan Smith said the bridge currently has a 10-ton weight limit. At its last inspection, the Missouri Department of Transportation rated it a 2 out of 9 on the National Bridge Inventory System. He said they want to replace it with a two-lane bridge with ADA-compliant sidewalks before that rating gets to 1 and they have to close it.
A new bridge, he said, would have increased stormwater capacity.
"That is a really big deal at this particular location," he said, "because of the stormwater issues that we've all seen downtown that affect quite a few buildings."
He showed a picture of a kayaker going down Main St. when it flooded in the past and said the flooding issues have been "significant in that area."
Smith said that where the floodwaters would need to flow under a new bridge is where the Hotel of Terror building stands now.
The City of Springfield approved eminent domain proceedings in December after years of negotiations with the Hotel of Terror’s owner Sterling Mathis were unsuccessful. Eminent domain allows for a neutral, court-appointed commission to come up with a fair purchase price. But Mathis gathered enough signatures to force council to make a decision: To repeal the eminent domain ordinance or put the issue before voters.
Monday night was the public hearing on two bills that city council must choose between.
Councilman Brandon Jenson asked Mathis, if council were to accept the $3.5 million that Mathis most recently put on the table, would he publicly commit to re-establishing his business at another building he owns, Dungeons of Doom. Mathis said he would for $3.5 million but that he’d lose half a million dollars in business until the Hotel of Terror could be relocated. That’s because he claimed the Main St. building has begun flooding more since work began on the Jordan Creek stormwater project.
He said, what started out at his parents’ passion has become “a one-of-a-kind icon in Springfield.”
"It's a custom-built scare attraction that draws thousands of visitors every year and boosts our local economy, creates jobs and puts the city on the map for something truly unique," he said. "This isn't a building, it's memories for generations, and it's a part of downtown Springfield's history."
He claimed that what he’s asking for "isn’t greed. It’s survival."
But Smith said the bridge, which he believes is around 100-years-old, needs to be replaced, and the only way to do that is to tear down Mathis’s building.
Council will vote on each bill separately on March 23.
