Sportsman’s Lounge, which bills itself as Springfield’s oldest neighborhood tavern, would be torn down to make way for a 24-unit apartment complex that would house formerly homeless people, under a plan to be considered by zoning officials Aug. 16.
The complex, in the 200 block of West Mason Street and the 400 block of Klein Avenue, would be constructed by The Windsor Development Group, according to documents filed by Windsor with the Springfield Building and Zoning Department.
Windsor’s proposal for what would be known as Mason Street Apartments is expected to receive an advisory vote from the Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission when it meets and hears public comments at 6 p.m. Aug. 16 in City Council chambers. Final approval would be needed from the City Council, which could vote as soon as Sept. 19.
Rather than a simple majority, a two-thirds majority vote of the council would be required if the project fails to receive majority support from the 11-member commission or if adjoining neighbors submit a petition in opposition.
Ward 5 Ald. Lakeisha Purchase said she knows of no opposition to the project. The apartment complex for people who used to be unhoused would be an asset to a neighborhood dominated by vacant lots and rental properties, she told Illinois Times.
“It’s going to add some TLC to the area,” she said. “I’m excited about it.”
Purchase said she worked with Mike Niehaus, president of Windsor Homes, to find a suitable location for the project near hospitals and mental-health services.
She said Mason Street Apartments would be financed similarly to Park Avenue Residences, which Windsor is completing at 3526 S. Park Ave. on the city’s west side.
Like at Park Avenue, where case-management services for formerly homeless clients will be provided by nonprofit Helping Hands of Springfield, Purchase said residents at Mason Street Apartments always would have case managers available, in an arrangement known as permanent supportive housing.
Clients in permanent supportive housing pay no more than 30% of their income for rent.
There’s a shortage of housing for the homeless in Springfield, Purchase said. It’s a problem that is highlighted in the Heartland Housed action plan for Springfield and the rest of Sangamon County.
It’s unclear, though, how the proposed project would be financed and who would provide case-management services.
For Park Avenue Residences, plans called for ownership of the 22-apartment site to be transferred from Windsor to Helping Hands and then to a nonprofit known as Deerfield Reserves.
The complex of three two-story buildings was constructed with almost $6 million from the state and federal government and from Helping Hands. Much of the money came through the Illinois Housing Development Authority, a quasi-state agency.
Helping Hands officials said they formed Deerfield Reserves to delegate the specialized task of owning and running an apartment complex to another organization.
Helping Hands plans to lease all of the space at Park Avenue for its clients, Helping Hands Executive Director Laura Davis said. That development is scheduled to open in October.
“I don’t have any details for new developments in Springfield outside of Park Street,” Davis said.
When asked whether Deerfield Reserves would be involved at Mason Street Apartments, Deerfield board President Marjorie King told Illinois Times, “I don’t have anything to share with you at the moment.”
King is a former Helping Hands board president and remains on the board.
Niehaus wouldn’t comment on the proposed project. Neither would Dan Moja, one of the owners of Sportsman’s Lounge, 229 W. Mason St.
Moja, Greg Sronce, Matthew Davlin and Zach Washko purchased the business in 2021 from Ralph “Pat” Patkus, who had operated the tavern since 2008. Windsor has a contract to purchase the Sportsman’s Lounge if the apartment project proceeds. The project would also require acquisition of several adjacent parking lots.
Sportsman’s Lounge says on its website that the main structure of the building dates back to 1866. The website says the building has remained “some form of saloon other than during the prohibition era, where it was managed as a ‘coffee & tea’ or meat and grocery store.”
The business, which also includes a restaurant, has had various owners, though the Sportsman’s Lounge name has been used since the late 1950s to early 1960s. Other names have included Troesch Grocery and Saloon, Benner Tavern, Hammon’s Tavern and Larsen’s Tavern, according to the website.
Plans for the project call for the construction of 24 multi-family dwellings spread over three two-story buildings – with eight units in each building – on a 50,240-square-foot site.
The zoning change would be needed because the current zoning of the eight parcels in the pending petition includes R-2, which allows single-family residences and duplexes, and S-1 and S-2, which allows a mix of neighborhood commercial uses, offices and shopping.
The requested zoning of R-3(b) is a “general residence district designed to accommodate all types of residential buildings,” according to Molly Berns, executive director of the Springfield-Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission.
The staff of the commission made an advisory recommendation that the Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission approve the proposed zoning change for Mason Street Apartments. The staff said in documents that the change “is seen as an acceptable variation as the subject property is at the edge of a transitional area that has residential uses toward the northwest.”
The staff also recommended approval of a requested zoning variance to allow for 18 street parking spaces rather than the 36 spaces normally required. And the staff recommended approval of variances to allow for reductions in a buffer yard and minimum required lot size.
“For the variances,” the staff wrote, “negative impacts over existing conditions are not anticipated as the proposed uses will have a net decrease in traffic compared with existing conditions, according to the site plan submitted with the petition.”
Windsor’s zoning request doesn’t mention that formerly homeless people would live in the apartments. Such a detail isn’t required in a zoning proposal for land use, Berns said.
The Park Avenue Residences project generated controversy in 2021 when Niehaus bought the site, received zoning approval from the City Council and initially planned to construct market-rate, privately-owned apartments.
About 80 neighborhood residents signed a petition opposing the site prior to the zoning change, based on concerns about a lack of infrastructure to support the project. Neighbors said they were even more upset when they learned later that Niehaus planned to work with Helping Hands and build low-income housing for the homeless.
Niehaus has said he changed his plans when Helping Hands approached him after zoning approval was granted.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Ward 5 Ald. Lakeisha Purchase is a member of the Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission. Purchase actually is a member of the Springfield-Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission.
This article appears in Springfield’s cannabis entrepreneur.
Seems sad and strange that, out of all the already flattened and asphalted acreage in town, the only apparently workable location for this housing has to be the site of this iconic, unique building. Too bad Lincoln did not drink there. This town only cares about Lincoln’s history and nothing at all about this town’s own history as a community. It loves, gets orgasmic even, over tearing down old buildings.
Despite being a past member of the historic sites commision,Lakeisha Purchase loves to support tearing down old buildings !How much effort did she put into saving this building ?
My great grandfather owned this when it was Benner’s, this saddens me that it will be torn down. We always celebrate my grandmother’s birthday here per her request an she proudly tells us stories about when she was a little girl and her father running this bar, this is incredibly unfortunate that out of all the vacant locations around Springfield that they chose this place…
I don’t understand why this is the location chosen. Why tear down an existing historic building and business, when there are so many already-existing empty lots nearby (also in Ward 5 and the Medical District) that could be used instead? Rutledge and Carpenter has a large empty lot. 1st and Carpenter has a large empty lot, and was previously the site of a motel, so zoning shouldn’t be an issue. Let’s start there—build on the empty lots before considering any zoning changes that would require a wrecking ball.