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City razes downtown building for $9 million parking garage

Law firm’s former home  is 2nd downtown building  to come down in a month.

$\uFEFFAn excavator cleans up \uFEFFrubble \uFEFFMonday\uFEFF after the demolition of the Doughty & Doughty building \uFEFFat the intersection of Columbia and Fountain \uFEFFavenues. Demolition \uFEFFbegan Friday. Staff photo by Bill Lackey$

Staff photo by Bill Lackey \uFEFFAn excavator cleans up \uFEFFrubble \uFEFFMonday\uFEFF after the demolition of the Doughty & Doughty building \uFEFFat the intersection of Columbia and Fountain \uFEFFavenues. Demolition \uFEFFbegan Friday. Staff photo by Bill Lackey

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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer Updated 7:51 AM Tuesday, February 7, 2012

SPRINGFIELD — Another downtown building has been demolished, this time to make way for a new $9 million parking garage.

The former home of Doughty & Doughty Law Firm, at 39 N. Fountain Ave., was razed Saturday by the city of Springfield.

The city acquired the building at no cost during negotiations for making the nearby Bushnell Building a job-ready site, said Bryan Heck, city planning and zoning administrator.

It will take most of this week and $18,000 to backfill the area. The site will be used as a gravel parking lot until pavement can be put down this summer. Eventually, the city plans to build a $9 million parking garage, Heck said.

But more parcels — and funding — will have to be acquired before the three-story, 450-space structure can be built, Heck said.

“It will be free public parking for now,” he said. “We’re assessing how to move forward with funding for a long-term operation.”

The law firm has relocated to 1 S. Limestone St., Suite G.

The firm’s former site is the second downtown building to come down in a month.

On Jan. 5, demolition began on the 94-year-old Arcue Building on High Street. Crews are still backfilling that parcel. Midland Properties, the owner of the site, said it will be redeveloped, but has not released plans.

That work, coupled with the removal of Memorial Hall last year and the construction of a new hospital, serves as proof that downtown can be a good site for development, Heck said.

“I think it’s a good opportunity for the downtown, specifically that new land is essentially available for new development in what’s already an established urban core,” Heck said.

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