Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register
Two resolutions — one implementing license plate reader technology and the other securing funds for a home from the 1850s with significant historical value for the Black community — received backing from the Springfield City Council in very different ways Tuesday.
A slide show presentation by the Springfield police on technology integration some council members viewed earlier seemed to sway in some cases and reinforce in others support for the two-year contract with Flock Security that will kick in early next year.
In the case of providing funds to The Springfield Project for beginning stabilizing work on the John Wickliffe Taylor Home at 12th and Cass streets, it was about the process playing out, a 40-minute discussion that took the alderpersons down different paths toward finding a funding solution.
“I feel like this is a step in the right direction,” said Dominic Watson, who oversees both the Black Chamber of Commerce and The Springfield Project. “We’re closer to ensuring that we preserve one of our historic gems in the minority community, the Black community specifically. We want to do right by the property and honor the legacy of the Ambidexter Institute. We want to increase the property value in that area.”
The institute, which trained Black children in math, science and the trades at the home in the early 1900s, was modeled after Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
The building has been unoccupied for nearly two decades and the $217,720 Watson sought was seen as a first-step stabilization process, especially with the onset of winter. Estimates of the total redevelopment of the Federal-style home came in at around $1.5 million.
Watson initially approached city council about Tax Increment Financing funds, but as the discussion grew, Ward 4 Ald. John Fulgenzi suggested the money be taken from a fund for economic development projects on the city’s east side.
The fund was created after the city council imposed a local 3% tax on cannabis sales, the maximum allowed under state law. The tax was added to the city’s regular sales tax.
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Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin provided the only “no” vote.
“We can preserve the history of that building in other ways besides the way we did tonight and that money should better be spent on 50 new roofs in those neighborhoods or 50 new furnaces in those neighborhoods or 50 new weather proofing (projects),” McMenamin said. “That’s how I would think the city would better spend the money.”
During the meeting, McMenamin questioned the structural nature of the building after viewing it earlier, but Gregory said he didn’t think it was in “as bad shape as we heard characterized.
Long-term, Watson sees a mix of tourism with the opportunity to incorporate STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) programing out of the site.
One partner that has shown interest in the Taylor Home is Route History, a museum and visitors center at 737 E. Cook St. which in part highlights stories around the Black experience on historic Route 66. The Ambidexter Institute has long been a talking point of Route History.
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Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 