» State of the City

Mayor Langfelder presented his 2022 State of the City address at a Chamber of Commerce program Thursday.

Click here to listen to it.

Here is the text of the Mayor’s address.

Good Afternoon,

Thank you to the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, the Commercial Real Estate Network, today’s sponsors, and all of you here today.

I’d also like to formally welcome and congratulate the Chamber’s “new-ish” President & CEO Mike Murphy. I was hoping we’d have some real fun at his first State of the City as Chamber president with a pancake eating contest. Each table could have a stack of Mike’s world-renown Giant Pancakes that he made famous at Charlie Parkers …. but there is always next year. On a serious note, I appreciate your partnership and look forward to continuing our efforts in moving Springfield forward together.

I would also like to acknowledge our City elected leaders who are with us today. Please Stand once again and be

recognized. Being one of the 13 elected City Officials and coming from a family of 13, I can truly say we are like a family – at times not always agreeing, discussing issues passionately, and working together for what we feel is in the best interest of those we serve.

I’d also like to introduce my Directors, Chiefs and other City personnel here today.

We are here to serve you.

Our most famous resident Abraham Lincoln set the standard for all of us. Regardless of party affiliation and whether we are Federal, State, or at the Local level, we should all strive to live up to the commitment to “a Government of the People, By the People, for the People.” Doing so, helps us overcome our toughest challenges by

working together to provide a stronger and brighter future together.

We have faced unprecedented challenges. Yet, Springfield has shown itself to be adaptable, strong, and resilient. As I speak with you today, we face yet another challenging time.

I first became Mayor in 2015, and spoke at my first State of the City with great optimism. I knew there were challenges to righting the City’s CWLP financial ship, but I was confident in Our administration, Our City Council, and Our Community to make the appropriate changes. Then in 2016 and 2017, we faced two years without a State Budget giving Our community – as the Capital City – great apprehension and created serious challenges to our citizens, medical community and local businesses.

Together we met those challenges and turned that corner, with our strong “Local First” commitment, our second-to-none medical community leading the capital development front that continues today, and our most transformational community project in the last 50 years, railroad relocation, continued to stay on track.

I stood here again in 2019 at the State of the City with great optimism. We were looking forward to 2020 as the most successful year the City would have in quite some time – with the highest convention season on the books, a strong corporate fund balance, combined with the State’s first Capital Bill in over a decade. The Capital City’s future was bright. Now we all know what 2020 and 2021 did for our world, our nation, our state, and our City. However, thanks to our greatest asset – our people – Springfield’s economic

engine kept working. From January 2020 to April 2022, there were 737 Commercial Building permits issued with a cumulative valuation of over $196 million and approximately 10,900 Residential permits issued with a combined valuation over $148 million. The City also did 27 miles of overlay, over 80 miles of other road patching, sealant, and repair work. This does not include the tens of millions of dollars in other infrastructure projects like Chatham Road, the Walnut Street Road, Hilltop Road and bike trail, along with four new Railroad underpasses.

We felt hopeful and optimistic entering into 2022. But now we look out and see rising gas prices, increased grocery bills, continuing concerns of supply chain issues, and workforce shortages.

Working together, Springfield has demonstrated that it is adaptable, strong, and resilient. But we are also thoughtful, steady, and inspired. These community strengths insure a bright and successful future for Springfield.

Thanks to Our US Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, the federal government passed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) by one vote, which helped all states and all cities. ARPA brought over $8 billion to the State of Illinois, approximately $100 million to School District 186, $34 million to Sangamon County, and $34 million to the City of Springfield to build a stronger post pandemic future.

This year, the City is leveraging some of its first $17 million in ARPA funds for our 3 new fire stations, the first in 30 years, along with 7 fire engines; new technology for

our police officers to assist them in keeping our community safe including License Plate Readers; replacing septic systems with sewers around the lake to protect our main water source; sewer and road modernization projects; and a $2 million small business revolving loan fund with Justine Peterson.

Through this partnership with the City – Justine Peterson and area banks provides gap financing, which so far has helped over 65 small businesses, for a cumulative total of over $1 million.

We can tackle challenges easier working together, including our biggest obstacles, like Pillsbury. Thanks to

the Moving Pillsbury Forward Group’s persistence – the property is in better hands for remediation. The City delivered on its promise to expand the SHA TIF to

encompass the Pillsbury Area so $100,000 in funds would be available and matched by the Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance (SSGA) for a Phase II Environmental analysis. This cooperative effort will put us in a position to

identify funding sources for mediation and repurposing of the property.

Thanks to all our taxing bodies support and Representative Sue Scherer and Senator Doris Turner’s legislative efforts the SHA-Pillsbury TIF has been extended for 15 years. The extension will bring in excess of $6 million to help transform the Pride of the Northend Corridor that includes the new home of the Springfield

Lucky Horseshoes – Robin Roberts Stadium – and the $90 million Lanphier High School Complex redevelopment.

Leveraging TIF funds will also help us carry out the City’s new “Whole Block Housing Initiative”. This program will assess dilapidated housing in the area to determine which homes can be restored, instead of

demolished, maintaining the fabric and history of the neighborhoods. We will use community partners including BONE Training Center to refurbish the homes while providing multi-craft core job training and homeownership opportunities. Within the same block, we will also provide financial assistance to qualified homeowners to help fix up their homes. This will be in addition to repurposing or providing infill development of the vacant lots within the

targeted block. This “Whole Block Housing” Initiative can be replicated in all TIF and low-moderate income areas to save our neighborhoods and transform lives generationally.

This includes providing reliable and affordable connectivity to high speed internet. One of my first initiatives when I became Mayor was creating public access to WiFi downtown. This was not only to be used as

wayfinding for residents and visitors, but also to enhance economic development in the area. We installed free public WIFI in 2016 and worked to expand this in 2019, when we completed two feasibility studies to expand broadband downtown and in underdeveloped sections of the City.

Then the pandemic of 2020 required us to pause. COVID-19 showed us the true magnitude of the lack of internet connection in our capital city. When our grade

schools, high schools and colleges went remote, and employees were told to join Zoom calls, and doctor visits went virtual, and to receive any type of financial assistance

it had to be done on a computer – the real picture of our community’s “Digital Divide” was uncovered.

In January of this year, the State of Illinois announced that the City would be part of its inaugural Broadband

Technical Assistance program called Accelerate Illinois. Springfield, the only City in this first cohort, joined five counties from around the state to work to move each area’s broadband efforts forward. For 15 weeks, the committees met and concluded their final group session earlier this month.

I’d like to thank the City’s Broadband Steering Committee. It was not only City staff (Julia Frevert, Tom Chi, Donna Davlantis) but representatives from our community who participated every week on this push for a connected community. Thank you to Mike Murphy

(President & CEO of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce) Marcus Johnson (President & CEO of the Springfield Urban League), Shelly Heideman (Executive Director for the Faith Coalition for the Common Good), Alderman Roy Williams (President of the Faith Coalition for the Common Good), Stacy Grundy (SIU System) and Kathi Lee (Principal of Lawrence Adult). This team understands that the Internet is not a luxury. It is a necessity. I thank them for their dedication to this initiative and look forward to its progress.

Understanding the importance of forward-thinking – Karen and Court Conn’s Vinegar Hill Mall, the Baur’s

Building and the Dewitt Wickliffe Smith Mansion

visionary redevelopment will transform another block in Springfield. We are thankful for their commitment to

restoring this remarkable space, while addressing the needs of our small business community and start-ups. The City fully supports their efforts in developing a downtown commercial kitchen incubator to help budding food

entrepreneurs along with developing hospitality training

services for our future workforce.

The Conn’s hospitality training initiative will be an expanded compliment to Lincoln Land Community College’s workforce training. We recognize this cannot start too soon with the Scheels’ Legacy Point Sports Complex breaking ground this year. The City supported the Sports Complex that is projected to bring 200,000 new

visitors to Springfield. This will make Mr. Lincoln’s

hometown a multi-day stay, creating an economic impact of $30 million annually.

Thanks to the Doug Knight Family, of Knight’s Action Park, in partnership with the City and the State, the Iconic Giant Slide will remain and be an anchor to the State Fairground’s Gate 2 Route 66 Experience for the

foreseeable future. With the expansion of the Route

History Museum on Cook Street and Motorheads on Toronto Road, these attractions raise Springfield’s Route 66 experience to an extraordinary level.

Thanks to the hard work of Scott Dahl and the City of Springfield’s Convention and Visitors Bureau Team, we are rebounding to 2019 levels a year earlier than anticipated. This June is expected to be a record tourism

month with Springfield being host to the American Truck

Historical Society, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, USA Gymnastics and AAU Gymnastics. Our Springfield

Convention & Visitors Bureau is initiating its inaugural Red Carpet Rollout, collaborating with other City departments, stakeholders and community volunteers to help spruce up downtown, along with adding new recycling

receptacles, in anticipation of welcoming visitors and

residents to the area this summer. In addition, thanks to City Council support, 100 new flower planters and 100 trees will be planted downtown.

Thanks to the Levitt Concert series, the community has embraced activating the North Mansion Block – also known as the Y Block. One such activity was the Illinois Holiday Market as part of DSI’s Old Capitol Holiday Walks, which this week was the third place winner of the Shop Small Neighborhood Champion Innovation Contest, sponsored by American Express, in partnership with Main

Street America. Thanks to Memorial Foundation’s Festival of Trees, Sangamon CEO – LRS Ice Skating Rink and other partners, DSI’s Old Capitol Holiday Walks reached exponential heights. This synergy is all to support downtown and its businesses – which is the center heartbeat of any community.

Thanks to Governor Pritzker’s commitment to Springfield as the Capital City, and the State Legislature’s actions with the Capital Bill, the Capitol Complex and the Armory are undergoing hundreds of millions of dollars in renovations. Massie and Massie Landscape Design Architects are working on the Capitol Complex and have also been retained by the City of Springfield to create complimentary beautification on the North Mansion Block.

In partnership with DSI and other community stakeholders, the City applied for State of IL MainStreet grant funds for Phase 1 development of the North Mansion Block.

Also underway, is DSI’s efforts to complete a Downtown/Medical District Master Plan. In partnership with the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln, the SSGA, and the City, this plan will help identify future development. One caveat to this master plan is that we continue our commitment to progress as this plan continues to develop.

With this approach, the City’s dilapidated ramp on 4th and Washington is nearly demolished and will be ready for development in June. Also along the same 4th Street corridor, thanks to UIS and the State, we are anticipating

the long awaited greater downtown presence of UIS. This soon to be two way corridor connects up to the “State of the Art” YMCA that was built during the pandemic in partnership with Memorial Health Services and the City.

Thanks to the partnership of Memorial Health and Medics First, the old Shop and Save on North Grand is being transformed into ambulance health services facility.

Thanks to the appreciation of history and the entrepreneurial spirit of Tony and Ann Libri, the Benedictine Campus is going through a transformation adaptive re-use. This includes the new and expanded home of Destiny Church and the restoration of the magnificent Ursula Music Hall.

To be a thriving city, we also need to continue to build upon our recreational needs and connectivity to our

neighborhoods. That is why we continue to grow and expand our partnership with the Springfield Park District on the Teen Empowerment Zone. This area includes Comer Cox and Chamberlain Parks and is anchored by the Salvation Army’s Community Center, the Boys and Girls Club, and other potential facilities. With Private and Public Sector investment, this CORE Area will be transformed into a Teen Empowerment Zone. Thanks to to an endowment from the HD Smith Foundation, this area will also be the new home of a $1 million skate pump track and fitness course. Thanks to City Council support, we will provide financial support for summer programming. In addition, we will be purchasing and re-purposing the old UCP Buildings into a Teen Opportunity Center within the zone that will be a safe haven for after school and

summer activities that support teenagers and broaden their

understanding of their own personal growth in Springfield.

Also within the area, the Poplar Place redevelopment continues. In partnership with Related and the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA), this dilapidated high crime housing development will undergo a $40 million transformation converting duplex housing into single-family housing with open-air recreational areas that will be free of overhead utility lines.

As we know, with tighter budgets, home repairs and safety become more challenging. Through $5.4 million in HUD grants, the City will make over 150 homes healthier and safer through lead and other material abatement –specifically focusing on housing impacting children and expectant mothers.

As we work on our housing initiatives, the City continues to work with our most vulnerable. 2021-2022 is the first year the City has funded a year-round overnight shelter. In partnership with the Salvation Army and the Heartland Continuum of Care, those experiencing homelessness now have a place to lay their head at night.

The City has also expanded its Homeless Outreach. Most recently, Shanon Allen joined the City as our Community Care Coordinator, working with our new Homeless Outreach Police Officer Mike Newman and all of our Neighborhood Police Officers. Shanon’s office is housed within the City’s Lincoln Library. This is in addition to another position the City helped fund in partnership Memorial Behavioral Health, providing a holistic team approach in addressing homelessness. Even

though this staffing is new, we are already seen successes including assistance to a 16-year-old who found her way to Springfield with no identification. The Homeless Outreach team was able to secure the teen with an ID, re-connect her back with her family who was from out-of-state, and with help aided her back home to her loved ones.

Yes, our community has incredible history and legacy that brings visitors here year-round. But its events like this luncheon that remind us what built Springfield—and made it what it is today—the individuals and families who have come to call Springfield home and passionate about their work.

That’s why we say local businesses are the backbone of our community. Springfield is unique because while

others may look at competing forces, our local businesses look for opportunities of synergy.

Another new collaboration will be kicking off next month because a Springfield restaurateur took his hobby and passion for bourbon and began engaging with other local business owners. Now these local owners have created the Capital City Bourbon Journey – eleven destinations for residents and visitors to enjoy and experience Springfield in a new way. This group of local establishments – who have dubbed themselves the Springfield Bourbon Ambassadors – are to be commended for this partnership of encouraging all to see new places in and around Springfield. Congratulations to Brickhouse, Curate, Floyd’s, Home Plate, Indigo, Lake Point, Mowie’s, Public House, Slauterhouse Brewing, Vele, and Westwoods

on this new partnership. The Capital City Bourbon Journey Guide book will be available for pick-up in a few weeks (created by Communications Director Julia Frevert).

There is a lot happening in our great city and as I said in the beginning. “The State of Our City is Adaptable, Strong and Resilient”. Springfield’s commitment to a strong and successful future is shown by Springfield Clinics continued multi-million dollar expansion work, Springfield Electric reinvesting $6 million project impacted by the rail, the $50 million Springfield Sangamon Transportation Hub, Christian Horizons $70 million Independent Living Senior Project, the $20 million Pinewood Apartments remodel, Helping Hands $6 million Supportive Housing Project, CAP 1908 Eastside Business Incubator, CWLP’s move to electric charging stations and

the $30 million groundbreaking Carbon Capture Initiative that will open up global markets in partnership with the U of I and the State of Illinois, the City’s continued partnership with Harvard Bloomberg and the list goes on and on.

Whether we like it or not, there are lingering effects of the COVID pandemic. Yet we want to live up to Business Insider’s designation of Springfield being the #1 place to live post pandemic so I am going to finish the State of Our City Speech with five reminders.

1. With State employees working remotely, the pandemic has been doubly hard for downtown business. Please make the effort to visit and patronize the places downtown weekly.

Now more than ever is the time to support local businesses as much as possible. Not only COVID, but the Amazon affect has a great impact on our brick and mortar stores. Whenever possible shop local so we can keep our neighbors employed, our small business economy moving and generate sales tax dollars for the City services you want and deserve.
Become actively engaged in our community through one of Land of Lincoln Next 10 initiative to resolve community challenges, the SSGA Thrive Ally Program to promote Springfield and Sangamon County; or through the City’s Ward Plan meetings.
Listen to one another, especially those with alternate viewpoints. Be respectful in disagreeable times and try to gain a true understanding of the other person’sopinion to resolve issues and differences.

5. Please be cognizant and respectful of everyone’s well-being – Simply put Be Kind to one another.

These five measures will help us be a stronger community post pandemic. Always remember to make Today better than Yesterday and Tomorrow better than Today, and we will have Faith in the Future!

Thank You! And God Bless each of us!