The Bunn Park neighborhood, on
Springfield’s southeast side, hasn’t changed much in 30
years: Many roads are unpaved, sidewalks don’t exist in some
spots, and thick vegetation grows on empty parcels of land. One
might think that this is all done in the name of preserving the
historic charm of the community.
“I don’t see no ‘historic
charm.’ All I see is dilapidated infrastructure,” says
Jamie Adaire, president of the Bunn Park Neighborhood Association,
who is upset about the continuing existence of gravel roads and
broken sidewalks in his neighborhood while other parts of the city
receive upgrades.
“We’re in Springfield, Ill., but
parts of it look like Birmingham, Ala. Actually, Birmingham
probably looks better than Springfield,” Adaire says.
Soon some major area streets will be improved.
Last week, U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Barack Obama were in town to
drop off $19 million from TEA-3, the federal government’s
newest transportation bill. The cash will be spent to expand 11th
Street and MacArthur Boulevard, make improvements to Cockrell Lane
and Capitol Avenue, and build a multimodal transportation terminal.
These federal funds cannot be used for local neighborhoods, says
city spokesman Ernie Slottag.
Adaire and others like him feel that although
“making Capitol Avenue look nice is a good thing,” the
city often neglects neighborhoods such as theirs.
“They take our [property] tax dollars
and don’t fix up our neighborhood,” Adaire says.
The city of Springfield will collect $13.6
million in property taxes in the coming fiscal year, $1 million
more than the previous year.
The city’s Department of Public Works
gets $2.5 million to spend on materials, contractual
maintenance, sidewalks, and miscellaneous items. For major public-works
projects, the city must rely heavily on money from the Illinois
Department of Transportation, Uncle Sam, and Sangamon County, which is
responsible for area highways.
According to the city’s Web site, the
department of public works spent its funds allocated for 2004 on
asphalt pavement overlays, sidewalk and ramp upgrades, oil-mat
road-maintenance and pavement-crack-sealing programs, widening and
resurfacing of Seventh Street, Koke Mill Road construction, and
repairs to Chatham Road. The city also worked on a number of
projects jointly with IDOT.
Ward 3 Ald. Frank Kunz chairs the City
Council’s public-works committee and believes that the
condition of city streets is unlikely to improve until a mayor or
public-works director decides to put a plan into place to pave
streets and fix sidewalks one at a time.
Mike Norris, director of public works, says
the city does have a plan — to do the best they can with the
limited funds available to his department. According to Norris, the
city simply doesn’t have a lot of money right now for
sidewalks and paving streets. In fact, he says, the city
hasn’t done an overlay anywhere in two years.
But a commitment from officials is all Bunn
Park’s Adaire wants.
“Put us on a list,” Adaire says.
“I don’t care if it’s a Top 10 list or a Top 100
list — I want to be on a list somewhere.”
He says he’s waiting on a report
promised to neighborhood associations by Mayor Tim Davlin outlining
his plan to address their concerns, ranging from potholes to
prostitution.
If the mayor’s report is unsatisfactory,
he says, he will consider addressing the City Council or
will go for the “nuclear option” — a lawsuit claiming
that sidewalks in his community are not navigable and therefore violate
the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In the end, Adaire says, improving
neighborhoods is a win-win situation for residents, as well as for
the city.
“Give us some of our damn money
back,” he says. “Show us a return on our investment.
The city needs to realize that if you put in a curb, fix up the
sidewalks, our property value will go up; then we’ll be
paying more in taxes. I don’t mind paying higher taxes for
property that looks like it’s worth a damn.”
This article appears in Aug 11-17, 2005.
