“We want to see it brought back into a useful life,” said Kevin Rose, director of revitalization at The Turner Foundation.
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“It’s still in great shape,” he said. “it has a new roof on it.”
A consultant presented a proposal for the building to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places to a state board review last week, he said, and it was approved. Now the federal government has to approve the proposal to finalize the designation, but Rose said he’s confident it will be approved.
“We have a strong likelihood of being listed,” he said.
Once the building is listed, it could qualify for state and federal tax credits.
“It’s difficult to redo these buildings that have been sitting vacant for so long,” Rose said, “without that infusion of state and federal money.”
Rose doesn’t know yet what the space could be used for but he said it would work well as office space or condos.
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“There’s so many options and it just depends on where it fits into our community’s fabric at the time when we’re ready to start that project,” he said, “or someone else is ready to start that project.”
The building was purchased by a real estate arm of the Turner Foundation in 2006 for $345,000, according to the Clark County Auditor’s website. It’s appraised value is listed as nearly $208,000 on the website.
Another downtown building, the McAdams Building at 31 E. High St., was added to the National Register of Historic Places in January.
The building was saved from demolition by the Turner Foundation in 2015 and now a real estate arm of the foundation will submit a tax credit proposal on Friday, Rose said.
The plan would be to bring up to 30 apartments and three businesses spaces to the building, Rose previously told the Springfield News-Sun.
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New housing is the key to revitalizing downtown Springfield, he said.
“The more we’ve studied it, the more we’ve talked to other communities, it’s housing,” he said. “People are willing to live downtown before grocery stores or retailers or restaurants are willing to come.”
Resident Angie Bishop said she’s excited to hear about possible developments.
“I would like to see the downtown just keep growing and changing and more businesses come downtown,” Bishop said.
She’d be more likely to spend more time downtown if there was more to do, she said, plus new housing could bring new jobs.
“Who doesn’t want to have fun things to do around town that’s affordable and fun for the family,” she said.
Rose expects the Lagonda Bank building to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places in a couple months.
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By the numbers
1883: Construction date of former Lagonda Bank building
$345,000: Purchase price for the former Lagonda Bank building in 2006
$208,000: Clark County Auditor’s valuation of the property
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