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Things are looking up for the YWCA building and the
organization it houses, with a potential buyer moving in and the struggling
nonprofit moving out. Mary Hardy-Hall, executive director of the Young
Women’s Christian Association, which provides job retention,
after-school, and life-skills programs for women and children, said the
organization will be moving into rented space at First United Methodist
Church, just a block away, at 501 E. Capitol Ave. “We met each other’s needs, and
it’s close,” Hardy-Hall said. “The church has space, and
we’ll have use of the fellowship hall, so there will be room for the
kids.”
Hardy-Hall said the organization has already started
packing and intends to be in their new home by the end of October. The YWCA put its property up for sale for $495,000 in
April, after the organization decided that they couldn’t afford to
maintain the 96-year-old, 30,000-square-foot building. “We hated to lose the building,”
Hardy-Hall said, “but we finally had to decide what was more
important, our programming or our building. The insurance was astronomical,
and it was just too expensive for us to maintain.”
Also this week, a spokesman for Springfield-based
Logan Development confirmed that his company has entered into a real estate
contract for acquisition of the soon-to-be-vacant YWCA building, 421 E.
Jackson, and has put money down on the property.
“It’s under contract, and we anticipate
closing within the next few weeks,” the spokesman said. While the spokesman declined to discuss specific
plans for the building, he said the company will work with local historical
societies to restore the space to its original condition.
The company is waiting for the proposed
project’s drawings to come back from architects. Springfield native Brandon Cullen, owner of Capitol
Steakhouse, created Logan Development earlier this year, the spokesman
said, with the mission of enhancing the city through urban development. The company is currently in the process of renovating
Lincoln Place, a three-story historical building at 118 S. Fourth St. that
will feature retail and residential space, including eight loft-style condo
units marketed toward younger downtown professionals. Logan Development plans to open a Lincoln Place model
unit in October, the spokesman said.
Contact Amanda Robert at arobert@illinoistimes.com
This article appears in Sep 20-26, 2007.
