Question of the day
Thursday, May 7, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Deputy Governor Andy Manar and CMS Director Raven A. DeVaughn writing in the Illinois Times…
The recent article “Tourism is up, but downtown is hurting” (April 23) captures a reality many Springfield residents and business owners feel every day: change is underway, and not all of it has been easy. Empty storefronts, the closure of a major downtown hotel and the lingering effects of a devastating fire have created real challenges for the heart of our capital city.
But that is not the whole story. And it’s important we don’t mistake a period of transition for a narrative of decline.
Springfield is evolving, as cities across the country are, and substantial investments are being made to ensure its downtown remains not only relevant, but resilient.
Start with the role of state government. For generations, downtown Springfield depended heavily on a daily influx of state workers. That model has shifted, accelerated by the pandemic and the rise of remote and hybrid work. But contrary to the notion that the state is pulling back from Springfield, the opposite is true.
In Sangamon County alone, the state workforce has grown 31% over the past decade. And over the last four years, 33-35% of all state of Illinois job postings are headquartered in Sangamon County, compared to 17-20% for Cook County. The number of state employees headquartered in Sangamon County has increased every year under Gov. JB Pritzker – the state’s commitment to a stronger Springfield is unchanged.
I have lived on and off in Springfield since 1985. I cannot remember a worse period for downtown.
* Meanwhile, from the SJ-R…
Visit Springfield Director Scott Dahl confirmed to The State Journal-Register May 6 that the Illinois FFA State Convention is leaving the Bank of Springfield Center for Peoria in 2028.
Over 5,000 members, advisors and guests attended the convention in 2025. The convention this year is June 9-11.
“They’ve basically outgrown the BoS Center,” Dahl said. “This is another reason why we need an expansion of the BoS Center. We get an expansion, obviously, we can look to bring them back. I think they want to be here. It’s the capital. It’s centrally located, but I think they’ve just outgrown the space.” […]
An expanded BoS Center could host larger and multiple conventions. Its expansion, which would include a hotel, was tied to a recent “megaprojects” bill passed by the Illinois House trying to induce the Chicago Bears to stay in the state.
* The Question: Your Springfield downtown improvement ideas? I’m not interested in reading a bunch of criticism. Tell us what you think can be done to improve the area. Thanks and make sure to flesh out your answers a bit.
- Leatherneck - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 1:15 pm:
Bring back as much State Government buildings as possible to the Downtown. Including those that went to the west side or Chicago. And including EPA at the mall too. Maybe see if the Wyndham could be repurposed as a State Office building.
Expand the Medical District as planned to surround the Capitol complex (but not include it).
- Bud's Bar Stool - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 1:16 pm:
The state government may be committed to Springfield, but definitely not to the city’s downtown.
The state spent a fortune renovating the north wing of the mall to house the EPA. The state could have chosen to put that workforce downtown, maybe by devoting a fraction of those dollars to renovating a downtown property, but it chose not to do that.
Any number of other state agencies could be relocated downtown, too. Repositioning hundreds or even thousands of state employees downtown would create an enormous economic infusion for downtown.
The state government’s choices in this regard - and, let’s be clear, these are choices - absolutely are part of the problem.
- Matty - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 1:20 pm:
As much as people will balk, the city needs to actually enforce downtown area parking restrictions and issue citations. The revenue from which should go into a specific fund for economic development, like facade improvement grants/rebates.
Will there be a TIF established within the new transit district?
These are small items, but it could be a start to at least cleaning the place up a bit. What is here is becoming derelict, and that’s not a way to incentivize potential business owners or investors.
- StarLineChicago - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 1:23 pm:
Once Amtrak relocates to 10th Street, with Adams closed at the tracks and in front of the Old Capitol, there’s an opportunity to proactively create an east-west pedestrian-friendly corridor (that already has a few decent anchors for activity) to try and siphon off some train travelers who would otherwise be hopping in an Uber to head to the Capitol.
- Daggerheart - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 1:24 pm:
What happened to the UIS / SIU collab school focused on government / legal majors? Wasn’t that in the works 5 or 6 years ago? Seems like a no-brainer to have more feet downtown and a solid pipeline of future IL State government workers.
- Tom - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 1:25 pm:
Make it much easier to renovate the upper stories of these older buildings. The building codes make it financially impossible to restore these properties. The more people downtown, the better it will become.
- Anyone Remember - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 1:27 pm:
Reverse the “informal decision” made long ago by the Procurement Policy Board that downtown Springfield office space is “too expensive” which emptied out downtown. Recovery would flow from that.
- Minnesotan - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 1:29 pm:
== What happened to the UIS / SIU collab school focused on government / legal majors? ==
Can’t speak to a collab school, but UIS stopped holding graduate classes downtown within the past few years. Probably for the best, considering classes were on Mondays and everything downtown was closed.
On that note, my suggestion for improvement is to have more businesses open at the beginning of the week, not just Wednesday to Saturday.
- River Heights PI - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 1:34 pm:
@Matty I’ve gotten enough tickets to tell you that they do enforce parking restrictions … perhaps too much.
1.) Don’t raise downtown ticketing prices. It just hurts people who live/work downtown, and I’ve not heard anyone say they actually wants that to pass city council.
2.) Businesses (that aren’t bars) need to stay open later than 5 p.m. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to buy clothes from shops downtown on some random weekday but can’t because they’re always closed when I’m off work. They just need consistent hours in general … it’s so bad.
3.) There needs to better solutions to help the homeless people downtown. I will admit my ignorance and say I don’t know what current methods are being used (social workers, food banks, shelters), but I can definitely say that I’m tired of the same woman screaming profanities outside my window every night for a full year.
- SpiDem - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 1:40 pm:
1. Pass an incentive in property procurement/leasing laws to advantage the relocation to the Springfield/Capitol/Downtown region
2. Figure out how to build a functional parking garage or two.
3. Quit bagging street parking meters constantly so people can park meaningless green elephants and the like on the street. People won’t come downtown if they can’t find a place to park.
4. Aggressively move to take control away from downtown buildings with landlords who will not renovate, upgrade or market their space availability. If necessary, raze the entire Hilton block to the ground.
5. Most importantly, elect a mayor who makes downtown a top priority. The last mayor to do this was Davlin. Houston, Langfelder, and Buscher have been complete failures in this department
- wildcat12 - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 1:44 pm:
Put the law/government studies school downtown like proposed years ago. Ideally on the Y Block.
I believe there’s this idea that putting a school downtown is a bad idea because there’s not enough business, housing, parking, etc., but I’m of the mind that putting a school there will encourage businesses to stay open longer, housing to be built, parking garages in vacant lots.
- Pulse - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 1:45 pm:
These discussions often center on how to bring people downtown. My contention has been that if people with disposable income already lived downtown, then downtown businesses would have a higher chance of thriving. If we had more condo/townhome options available, then more people would be interested and able to live downtown.
Currently, Springfield is a car-heavy city where people live in neighborhoods spread out through the city. As a result, prime real estate is often a series of one parking lot after another. If we had more condos and townhomes downtown, more people would be able to walk around downtown. More foot traffic, more customers, better environment for downtown businesses.
- Confused - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 1:46 pm:
Turn all but 5th and 6th Street and Jefferson and Madison in to two way streets and reopen the pedestrian plaza on Adams in front of the old Capitol but with traffic calming. I have been coming to Springfield for years and I still can’t remember which streets go which direction and it is impossible to circle the block to find parking with out it being a 4-5 minute endeavor. This leads to the perception that there is not parking when in reality there might be plenty of parking. Not saying it will solve all the problems but being able to move from place to place and circle the block for parking may make it easier to go to businesses downtown.
- Sangamo Girl - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 1:46 pm:
“The state” is not the a answer to downtown’s woes. We have the issues we do because everyone assumed that nothing would change and “the state” would be a cash cow forever. Surprise. The world changed, Springfield had no plan, and got left behind.
Parking is a red herring. If there was enough to do to sustain local interest, folks would be there.
The biggest issue is the terrible condition of much of the downtown building stock. The local businesses owners that were the backbone of the area left, the buildings they owned were put in trusts, and absentee owners just wanted a check from the bank. There is no in incentive to maintain and improve.
Look at other downtowns in similar sized cities. Why are Bloomington and Champaign vibrant? Did those cities throw up their hands and wail or did they put skin in the game?
- Because I Said So - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 1:53 pm:
Not a suggestion but the old train station is a beautiful site for events indoors and out. I would love to see that space utilized more.
- SportShoz - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 1:54 pm:
As someone who drives to STL, Peoria and Bloomington for live music - I would love to see a smaller (not BOS) venue for music that we could use to attract bands crossing the state.
- Glengarry - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 2:03 pm:
Bring back Rockin Robin aka the dirty bird.
- Dan Johnson - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 2:08 pm:
The worst decision was to separate our capital from our flagship university. The second worst was to build a Springfield university in the corn fields. So now, classes with students and professors near the Capitol should happen every day. Every public and private college should have access to classes on state government, public policy, administration and law. And maybe anyone that gets a MAP grant has to participate in a collaborative program around state government talent and internship and study based in downtown Springfield.
- Dan Johnson - Thursday, May 7, 26 @ 2:13 pm:
Oh, and the classes could be held in the gorgeous but under-used state library building. Or the Howlett building which looks like a beautiful university building but is used (incorrectly in my view) as a state agency building.
It could be like the Dunn fellows program but for any legislator or state agency or even association.