Downtown Springfield building to be demolished following fire

Lina Portman2 weeks ago

1 2 minutes read

Springfield city officials said Wednesday evening that a downtown building in the 400 block of East Adams Street that was heavily damaged by a fire would be demolished Thursday.

The building, divided on the first floor but open to upper floors, housed Cat's Pajamas Cat Cafe and Electric Quill Tattoo. Cat's Pajama's opened in March, while Electric Quill just moved into its downtown location in May.

The building is owned by Chris Nickell and Jonathan Combs, whose bookstore, The Elf Shelf Books & Music, was moving to the second floor.

More: Fire destroys interior of downtown Springfield building

The first call about the fire was put out around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Bureau of Public Works Director Dave Fuchs said the building's facade was so unstable that it was taken down Wednesday evening.

Springfield firefighters and police maintained a presence in the area throughout the night.

Also destroyed in the fire was the “Pillsburyed” exhibit, which included artifacts such as documents and paper panels, as well as artwork collected from the Pillsbury Mills buildings by its current owner, Moving Pillsbury Forward .

Café Moxo, the building directly to the west, announced that it was “closed indefinitely” due to the fire.

Fuchs said public works crews were in both buildings booking Building 413 and neither “deserved to be torn down.” I'm not saying there hasn't been some damage, but it will develop over the next few days.

“Our main concern is to demolish this building. The floors had all collapsed and there were only bricks on the front of the building that were unstable.”

One firefighter was injured but was released later Wednesday after treatment, Fire Chief Ed Canny confirmed.

“A very sad day for downtown Springfield,” said Mayor Misty Buscher, who spent most of the day with the firefighter. “But we will recover.”

Nine cats that were inside Cat's Pajamas were all found and taken initially to Buzz Bomb Brewing Co. and then to another location downtown.

Of the nine that were inside, there are still four cats up for adoption who need a home after the fire. Unadopted cats will be cared for by the Animal Protection League, according to a Facebook post from the cafe Thursday afternoon. The post also included a link to a donation portal to help cover lost costs and support newly hired staff.

Josh Flanders, one of the owners of Buzz Bomb, said the bar staff tries to help everyone on the street, commonly known as “the Adams family,” throughout the day.

“The Adams family will step up to help our fellow businesses,” assured Flanders.

Buzz Bomb, Bloom Wine Bar and Florals, 2 S. Old State Capitol Plaza, and Ad Astra Wine & Tapas Bar, 308 E. Adams St., are part of a Saturday bar crawl from 2 to 6 p.m. Flanders announced that there would be a donation. baskets at each location to help businesses that have been affected.

“My heart goes out to everyone who is affected by this,” Flanders said.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; [email protected] ; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

Lina Portman

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