A Culver’s representative declined to comment on the potential new location, saying it “is too early in the process for our team to offer any details or comments.”
The closest Culver’s location to the city is in Vandalia. Another location opened last summer in West Carrollton in Montgomery County.
The fast-casual restaurant chain is known for its fresh frozen custard and ButterBurgers, a signature sandwich that gets its name from its lightly buttered and toasted bun. The company was founded in Wisconsin and cooks fresh food to order, according to its website.
The city of Springfield purchased the Executive Inn in January 2023 for $2.2 million through American Rescue Plan Act funds to use as a temporary emergency homeless shelter, intending to redevelop it later once a more permanent solution was found.
The building abruptly shuttered as a homeless shelter in August 2024 after the city commission in a split vote declined to renew an operation contract with Dayton nonprofit Homefull. The resolution that the commission rejected would have approved up to $1.05 million to Homefull for one year, with the option to renew for three more one-year periods.
Opponents expressed concerns about the cost of services, though the funds would have come from a federal source.
Since then, the site has sat empty. A Wawa gas station had been planned for the property but the developer withdrew from the project late last year.
The Columbia Street property is adjacent to a Wendy’s, Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken and the NTPRD Chiller ice rink. Mercy Health’s Springfield campus sits across the street.
The city approved an up to $98,900 proposal from Tony Smith Wrecking & Trucking to demolish the site in January. Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said then that during its operation as a shelter, Homefull contended with deteriorating conditions at the building and since it has been vacant, conditions have worsened “beyond repair.”
Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck said at the meeting he believed clearing the site would “make it more marketable” for redevelopment.
The city last week also approved an asbestos removal contract at the site with H&H Environmental LLC for up to $6,500.
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