The Springfield City Council declined to rescind its vote to provide TIF money for the Horace Mann project to demolish two downtown buildings on East Washington Street. Alderman Chuck Redpath, appearing on the WTAX Morning Newswatch, says “everybody on the council is for historical projects”, but the building has been vacant since 2006, has a hole in the roof, a hole in the floor, and it’s full of mold.  Redpath says, “nobody wants to step up and take care of these things until we start talking about tearing them down.”

He says people often have ideas on what can be done to save historical buildings, but often want the city to pay for it.  The city, Redpath says, cannot cover those costs.

Redpath adds that plans involving historical buildings should be vetted and run through the economic development and historical committees before going to the full council, and that did not happen with this project.