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SPRINGFIELD — The 94-year-old Arcue Building that was once said to be the landmark of the city’s central business district will soon fall to a wrecking ball.
The 37,000 square foot building at 6 W. High St. is under contract to be sold by Nov. 1 to Midland Properties, a local real estate firm that plans to demolish the building to make way for undetermined future development.
About 15 tenants who occupy businesses in the building were told a month ago they must vacate the building by Oct. 15. The building is scheduled to close Nov. 1 and will be razed in January.
Midland Properties President Tom Loftis said the building is structurally sound, but the cost to update the structure, which still has a manual elevator and lacks central heating and cooling systems, is not feasible, he said.
“The building is not an economically viable structure so we will demolish it ... it’s just not a practical building to maintain,” Loftis said.
The demolition of the Arcue Building is the latest development in downtown Springfield, which has seen the construction of a new hospital and had several buildings and residential developments razed in recent years, including Memorial Hall last year.
A portion of the Crowell-Collier building, a former publishing giant, was also recently ordered to be torn down.
The Springfield Preservation Alliance issued a statement Friday, saying it is concerned another prominent feature of the city’s downtown skyline is being “needlessly considered for demolition.”
“The Arcue Building, which is currently in use and in good shape is an important feature of the character and renewal of downtown Springfield. Its loss would be a step backward when our community should be looking at positive steps forward,” said Gretchen Krafft, president of the alliance.
Tom Hale and Maria Tormey-Horton of Arcue Inc. have owned the Arcue Building and the parking lot business for five years.
The building is valued at about $450,000 and its owners owe $20,150 in delinquent property taxes on the site, Clark County Treasurer Stephen Metzger said.
Hale and Tormey-Horton say they must sell the six parcels (the building and parking lots) because the property taxes recently spiked from about $12,000 per year to $24,000.
Hale said Arcue officials met with the board of revisions a few years ago to appeal for a reduction in property tax valuation, but Springfield City Schools officials challenged the appeal and won.
“The city school system is the one putting the commercial structures in the hole because the valuations are too high,” Hale said.
Springfield City Schools Board President Donna Picklesimer said Hale’s claims are off base: “We’re not putting anyone in the hole. We’re just making sure all data is correct so everybody is paying their fair share.”
The Arcue Building, constructed in 1917, was named after Robert Quigley King, who had several retail businesses in the city and was known for real estate development. It was the home of the men’s Hub Clothing Store that closed in 1972, but is remembered by many for its pneumatic tube system that propelled money up to the mezzanine in cylinder containers.
Tormey-Horton, whose father owned the Heritage Center, said selling the Arcue Building is bittersweet. But she and Hale said its demolition would make way for “progress” in downtown Springfield.
“Hopefully it’s a change for the better,” Hale said. “The older (buildings) are past their useful life. The new ones can make better use for the space.”
Krafft said she and others in the preservation alliance are in favor of downtown development, but not at the expense of older buildings and city landmarks.
“I want businesses to come downtown, but I would hope they would look at the existing buildings and decide that would be a good home.”
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