SPRINGFIELD — Springfield City commissioners want to tear down an old hotel that was once used as a short-term homeless shelter.
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As reported on News Center at 11:00, the building has sat empty for years, and some people have called it an eyesore.
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The city approved a Wawa moving into the spot, but that isn’t going to happen anymore.
As previously reported by News Center 7, commissioners approved the sale of the former Executive Inn in 2023.
A year later, the city voted to end the money used for that shelter, and families had to find somewhere else to go.
In May of this year, the city approved the sale of the site to Wawa.
However, News Center 7 learned that the gas station decided not to buy the property during the meeting on Tuesday night.
A spokesperson for the city said the company backed out of the sale because of the gas station’s size. It would have had to buy two adjacent properties.
During the meeting, people made comments saying they want to see a long-term solution for people experiencing homelessness in the community.
“These people are some people’s family,” Springfield resident Melissa Skinner said.
Commissioners said they are looking at the city’s homeless population. This includes problems with Springfield’s only shelter, Sheltered INC.
“I have realized over the past two years, listening to experts, speaking to the homeless, it’s really complex,” Commissioner Tracey Tackett said.
Tackett said she is working on putting together a group to identify how to help people who don’t have a home.
“Like, I really want to focus on some of the youth. The health department came out and had a report that there’s, you know, kind of a shocking number of how many homeless we have in the community, higher than the state, and I would like to at least try to target down and see if we can do something with that,” Tackett said.
During the meeting, the commissioners had their first reading to tear down the old Executive Inn.
They’ll revisit the idea in January.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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