Leaders turn to community to decide on improvements

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By Samantha Sommer, Staff Writer Updated 10:01 AM Wednesday, May 19, 2010

SPRINGFIELD — How people see their community affects how they think about it.

Mayor Warren Copeland pointed to the once-blighted neighborhood that is now a massive construction site for a new downtown hospital.

That was once one of the biggest eyesores, he said.

“It has a tremendous psychological effect on people,” he said.

That’s one reason why the Greater Springfield Moving Forward initiative is asking people who fill out its questionnaires to consider strategic community areas when making suggestions for how to improve it in the next five years.

Identifying the problem areas

The strategic community areas category asks residents to either identify specific areas they think are great and need to be preserved or areas they think could be better with some improvements, said Fred Bartenstein, an organizational consultant overseeing the visioning process.

It could also point out places that aren’t functioning well and need revitalization, he said.

Bartenstein also hopes to see suggestions on how to reuse some spaces, such as perhaps what should happen with the former South High School building or how to make the South Limestone Street corridor more attractive.

What area respondents identify — be they neighborhoods, historic buildings, shopping areas or parks — will aid community leaders in making decisions.

“That will help shape our thinking about what our priorities should be,” said Copeland, who’s also vice chairman of Greater Springfield Moving Forward.

Historical sites included

The process also could help identify what historical buildings or sites people want to see preserved, Greater Springfield Chairman James Peifer said, or it could point out what the community doesn’t value.

The Springfield Preservation Alliance also surveys people on what historic areas they believe are important to save and annually lists preservation priorities.

So Alliance President Kevin Rose said it’s great the initiative is looking at those issues.

Some places are obviously important to a community, such as the Westcott House, the renovated Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home, or the Bushnell Building downtown. What he would like to hear about and what the alliance tries to find out more about are the less-well known sites.

Those type of places add to Springfield’s uniqueness, he said, and allow people to connect to their community and give them a sense of place. That sense provides a boost to communities.

“You’re going to be more successful if you give people a reason that they want to be here,” he said.

Sometimes that’s buildings, sometimes it’s a neighborhood, or sometimes it’s the traits of an area such as a lot of mature trees.

“It’s that intangible,” Rose said. “You know it matters to you, but you may not be able to explain why.”

Making downtown attractive

Many buildings or places previously identified in earlier such studies or plans have been demolished since then or might be razed soon, Rose said.

“The more important thing than just identifying those is starting to implement solutions to make sure they stay standing,” he said.

Copeland also pointed to downtown and all the effort going into revitalizing it.

“It would be nice to know what portion of the people who live in Springfield share my view that when you have an attractive downtown it makes the whole community feel better about itself and it feeds into economic development,” he said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0363 or ssommer@coxohio.com.

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