Jefferson Avenue Footbridge

The historic footbridge on C-Street was closed in 2016 due to structural issues.

A top initiative from Gov. Mike Kehoe is in trouble as House Budget Committee considers the chairman’s spending plan, which also has less for state employees pay raises and $139 million for earmarks.

The Commercial Club of Springfield, C-Street Merchants Association and the C-Street Community Improvement District hosted an event Sunday for the public to share their ideas.

Amid a meeting agenda loaded with several bills funding tourism promotion, Springfield City Council voted to approve a local company's bid to renovate the historic Jefferson Avenue Footbridge. The bridge could reopen next year.

Along with revenues from Springfield’s voter-approved quarter-cent capital improvements sales tax, rental payments from a new workforce development building would help pay back the bonds.

The Jefferson Avenue Footbridge on Springfield’s historic Commercial Street has been closed since 2016. The move came after the city deemed the 122-year-old structure unsafe. Now, with an infusion of funding from the state of Missouri, the bridge could be restored by fall of next year.

The footbridge on historic Commercial Street has been closed since March 2016 due to steel corrosion.

In early March, Springfield officials announced they were seeking bids to fix up the historic footbridge at Jefferson Avenue and Commercial Street. Now they’re extending the deadline.

The bridge has been closed since 2016 after it was deemed to be unsafe.

An update on the project will be given during a meeting Wednesday night, December 13.