urban development

Several years ago, Springfield approved a redevelopment plan for Kearney Street, once known for its vibrant car cruising culture. Officials are now looking at new efforts to boost business in the area.

After hours of comments by local residents at a Thursday-night meeting, commissioners voted 6-to-2 against the plan. One commissioner who lives in the residential area near the corner abstained to avoid a conflict of interest.

The property in question is a 5.4-acre parcel located on a looping stretch of road just west of the Library Center. A company called Ridge HZ55 wants to transform the western half of it from open land thick with weeds and wildflowers to a 55-plus residential care facility. They hope to sell off the eastern portion of the land.

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.

After an unusual four months of deliberations, on Friday Judge Derek Ankrom entered an order in favor of Be Kind & Merciful LLC developers.

Last fall, Springfield City Council began a discussion as to whether housing should be one of the key policy positions for Missouri’s third-largest city. On Monday night, they made it official.

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.

By a vote of 8 to zero on Monday night, Springfield City Council passed a rezoning change that will allow a church to be built off Evans Road in south Springfield. Neighbors say they’re concerned about possible traffic impacts from the building — and the undisclosed religious affiliation of the congregation itself.

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