Big plans for Clear Lake Avenue

A 38-acre lot the city of Springfield owns along Clear Lake Avenue may become a $38 million complex of municipal warehouses and offices.

The city is contemplating erecting a $24 million water distribution facility and a $14 million Public Works building in the 2100 block of Clear Lake Avenue. The matter was slated for consideration by the Springfield Zoning and Planning Commission Oct. 16.

“Some folks say the street garage on 17th Street, where we currently work out of, was built in 1933,” Public Works Director David Fuchs said. “Other folks say it is 100 years old. It used to be the street-car barn. It’s just a really ancient facility. It’s brick. It floods. It has raccoons in it every once in a while. It’s long overdue (to be replaced). The street department needs a new place to work out of.”

When seeking a new location for the garage, Fuchs said it just made sense for his department to choose a site that was already city-owned. It’s approximately half a mile east of the current facility at 301 N. 17th, which is on the west side of the Clear Lake Avenue overpass.

“It’s basically a property that we can put a new city garage on that would allow us to bring all of our equipment under one roof, which is really important in inclement weather,” Fuchs said. “It will give us plenty of administrative space. And of course, we will have continuing education for all of our employees: technical stuff as well as safety education, which is a big part of what we do. We will also (have) material storage. We have to store road salt and materials that we use each and every day. There will be a space for the sign shop, the street guys, the forestry crew. Everybody would be able to comfortably work out of the space.”

City engineer Nate Bottom said about 100 people would work in the new building. No decision has been made on what to do with the current facility. Bottom said it could be used to store snowplowing equipment but would most likely be razed.

The Water Distribution Facility, which would be built nearby, will house an additional 55 people, according to Doug Brown, chief utility engineer for City Water, Light and Power. Brown said the water distribution facility will house crews that repair water mains.

“It will have our trucks that service the water distribution network,” he said. “All the mains will be there. Also, there will be backhoes, dump trucks, all that stuff. There also will be places out there that store sand, gravel, rock and dirt.”

Initially, the CWLP building was to be erected near the current facility at 401 N. 11th St., just east of the 10th Street railroad tracks. To the west of the tracks is the historic 1908 Springfield Race Riot site, which President Joe Biden recently designated part of the National Park Service.

Last year, Teresa Haley, who was then president of the Springfield branch of the NAACP and the statewide director, asked the City Council not to build in the area. She told the council it would be “disrespectful” to build storage garages behind a national monument.

Haley told Illinois Times the city has indicated that it will donate the land where the water facility was to have been built to the National Park Service.

“It would be a great place for more parking, a gift shop and bookstore as well as a memorial garden,” Haley said. “We want people on both sides of the railroad tracks to have a great view of the park and take real pride in our community. This is something that needs to be remembered.”

Fuchs said construction at the new proposed site along Clear Lake Avenue will be beneficial to the neighborhood.

“We’re just going to have a lot more people and activity in the neighborhood,” he said. “In my opinion, it creates a safer neighborhood just because you’ve got all the activity. You’ve got all of those eyes on the neighborhood and everybody coming in and out, the Dollar General is right there, and then the senior living right across the way. So, I think it’ll have a positive effect on just bringing attention to the neighborhood.”

The Springfield Audubon Society, which has a nature area at 2315 Clear Lake Ave., has expressed concern about the two city buildings being built nearby, Bottom said. To mitigate those concerns, he said the city would plant a buffer of trees between the buildings and the nature area.

“Because Clear Lake is a state route, (the Illinois Department of Transportation) has been a part of our discussion from the very beginning,” Fuchs said. “We are in consultation with IDOT on the condition of the pavement, traffic control and other things.”

Brown said he anticipates it will be at least a year before the bonds can be issued for the CWLP building.

“We have to improve the water fund first. That’s why we did the (water) rate increases. We need to have enough days of cash on hand to meet all our obligations and make sure we keep the bond rating agencies happy, like Moody’s.” He said because this past summer was rainy and fewer yards were irrigated, water revenues are lower than expected for the city.

Once financing is complete, construction will likely take one to two years, he said. The price tag for the building is estimated at $20 million to $24 million, he added.

Bottom said the tentative plan is to also issue bonds for the Public Works building. When the building would be constructed is dependent on the City Council’s timeline, he said. But he said construction of the $14 million garage would likely take about 18 months.

Scott Reeder, a staff writer for Illinois Times, can be reached at sreeder@illinoistimes.com.

This article appears in Citizens want a voice in CWLP.