CORRECTED 5:54 A.M. 12/3/25

Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – A contract to demolish 40 buildings in Springfield costing about $1 million has been approved by the Springfield City Council.

Alderman Shawn Gregory said even with Greentrac’s proposal to include local hires and minorities to work on the project, he’s not comfortable with the bill being 40 percent more expensive than the lowest bidder, Sam Shafer.

At last week’s meeting, Shafer told aldermen he believed the decision was based on wrong information, as his firm uses the exact same asbestos abatement company as Greentrac, which is a female-owned minority contractor.

Alderwoman Jennifer Notariano says she didn’t even receive all the information she requested regarding the bids and feels like more information is needed rather than just approving the measure based on past performance.

The contract with Greentract is for nearly $1 million. Mayor Buscher said that she would have her purchasing department and Public Works see if they could get more information on the minority breakdown in the proposed contract.

The contract with Greentract ended up being amended with alderman approval, then was passed on a final vote.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was corrected to reflect that the contract was approved by the city council after an amendment, not sent back to committee. Capitol City Now regrets the error.