Springfield ICON

Independent Coalition for Our Neighborhoods

Hall of Fame

  • SJ-R: MacArthur Boulevard Association success worth replicating

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    The SJ-R today lauded the MBA’s work in revitalizing the MacArthur Boulevard commercial corridor, writing, “A healthy commercial district is good for nearby neighborhoods and vice versa. The benefits reach residents, business owners, public schools, government coffers, shoppers and visitors.  Other aging commercial corridors in Springfield face similar struggles, and those who care about them…

  • Downtown needs shoppers

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    Kudos to Cardiologist owner Doug Mayol for his thought-provoking opinion piece in the SJ-R today. ICON is in favor of sustainable development to infill the “missing teeth” in our downtown and older neighborhoods. Taking care in planning the vacant block at 4th & Capitol is one aspect, but we can all help by shopping local,…

  • ICON to receive Mayor’s Historic Preservation award for Neighborhood Preservation Efforts

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    ICON is honored to be a recipient of the 2014 Mayor’s Historic Preservation award in the Neighborhood Preservation Efforts category. The Awards were presented on Monday, May 5, at the Lincoln Park Pavilion, 1601 North 5th Street, from 5:30-7:30pm. The award ceremony was held immediately after a short reception. Thank you to Mayor Houston &…

  • ICON at Earth Day Springfield on Saturday, April 26

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    Join Springfield ICON at Earth Day on Saturday, April 26 from 10am to 2pm! Springfield’s Annual Earth Day Celebration  is a ZERO WASTE event at Lincoln Park.  Bring the family and enjoy food, music and local earth-friendly vendors.  Find out about environmental initiatives taking place right here in Springfield!        

  • City Infrastructure Thank You!

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    Thumbs up to Alderman Cory Jobe, Alderman Tim Griffin, Mayor Mike Houston, Public Works Director Mark Mahoney, and SCVB’s Fred Puglia for their support of funding for long overdue infrastructure investment in Springfield for roads, sidewalks and sewers.

  • 5th and Stanford: Zoning Thank You!

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    Thank you to Cory Jobe, the Ward 6 Alderman,ICON and Harvard  Park Neighborhood Association for great teamwork in defeating the request for a zoning variance to build a packaged liquor store at 5th and Stanford!” Special thanks to the City Council members who voted ‘No” and Bill Bretz for eloquent testimony on behalf of the…

  • Dave Bakke April 2: Critique of Springfield’s image touches nerve

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    ICON supported Dave Bakke when he wrote last week about the lack of pedestrian access at the new County Market on Carpenter and 2nd.  But then he followed up with a second column that includes the kind of big-picture forward-thinking that is near and dear to our hearts.  Instead of supporting a new liquor store…

  • Dave Bakke March 30: Some criticisms of Springfield justified

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    ICON applauds Dave Bakke for his column March 30 – we wish we had written it.  ICON is all about making Springfield a better place to work, live and do business – for ALL of Springfield.  Along with neighborhood groups such as Enos Park and MacArthur Boulevard, which have master plans in place for intentional…

  • Creating Inner City Suburbs: Blots

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    Read about the process of “blotting” – homeowners taking possession of adjacent abandoned property to expand small city lots into suburb-sized “blots”. Enterprising homeowners are changing the landscape in many depopulated cities, bringing the look of spacious suburbs to abandoned urban neighborhoods.  For less than the cost of an airplane ticket, in some instances, owners…

  • Enos Park Development sells first renovated property

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    Enos Park Development, LLC purchased the house at 1129 N. Fifth St. in February of 2011 after it had gone into foreclosure. EPD partnered with Old Neighborhood Rehab to renovate the house and put it back on the market. In less than a month, a buyer made an offer on the property and last week…

  • City hires two code enforcement attorneys

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    Kudos to the City of Springfield for hiring two new attorneys who will focus on code violations and enforcement.  ICON believes that one of the keys to cleaning up the older neighborhoods is aggressively pursuing property owners who fail to correct their code violations in a timely fashion. We are also optimistic that  the new…