A crowd of residents and city staff gathered around maps of Springfield’s West College Street Monday as part of a community input session on revitalizing the area.
An environmental assessment is planned for the stretch of College running from Grant Ave. to Kansas Expressway.
The City of Springfield is working with Iowa-based company Eoscene and funding from an EPA grant to assess brownfields in the area, which has a history of industrial and commercial use. That makes the ecological assessment necessary before private and public interests can invest in redevelopment.
The city wants to know what if any pollutants are in the ground, and that will determine what the land can be used for in the future. It is as much an economic project as it is an environmental one.
Just off downtown, Assistant Director of Economic Vitality Matt Schaefer said the area is a natural choice for extending the city’s downtown revitalization efforts. Schaefer said it has potential. The assessment is the first step in unlocking that potential.
"You have that opportunity with some significant placemaking and pedestrian access improvements along there,” Schaefer explained. “Then you have in combination with that Route 66. This is an area that has seen underinvestment for years if not decades.”
Schaefer said additional resources will be needed to follow up on the results and recommendations of the assessment. The city hopes to be awarded a federal RAISE grant to help pay for streetscaping and pedestrian connectivity in the area.
Attendees had questions about private property rights, preserving historic sites and the long-term implications of the plans but largely agreed the area needs work.
Eoscene is expected to deliver their environmental assessment in April 2027. A separate historical review of the area is also expected at that time.