The Springfield City Council has approved the reclassification of 40 acres of vacant farmland on the southwest side of the city, clearing the way for future development by Memorial Health System. The property will now be zoned as a highway business service district meant for commercial establishments.
The property is located near the intersection of Wabash Avenue and Archer Elevator Road next to Green Nissan. Its southern edge adjoins 10 acres already owned by Memorial, which in turn shares a southern border with 10 acres owned by Southern Illinois University Medicine.
Memorial has a contract to purchase the 40-acre property from its current owner, Kinscherff Properties LLC, in November after the fall harvest. At the Aug. 19 City Council meeting, Ward 10 Ald. Ralph Hanauer, who represents the area, made a motion to make the rezoning contingent on the property purchase being completed within one year. His motion was unanimously approved, as was the rezoning request.
Robert Ellison, vice president of business development and strategy execution for Memorial, said the purchase is a “strategic buy” and that the health system has “no definitive plans” for developing the land yet.
Memorial’s zoning petition noted anticipated frontage on Bradfordton Road, citing a planned extension of the road. Engineering firm Greene & Bradford previously published a notice in 2016 that it was contracted to complete the Bradfordton extension connecting Old Jacksonville Road to Wabash Avenue by Property 21, LLC, which used to own the 20 acres currently held by Memorial and SIU.
Those 20 acres were donated to Memorial by John Pruitt, owner of E.L. Pruitt Mechanical Contracting Services, in 2023. Memorial then donated half of that land to SIU.
Steven Sandstrom, the communications coordinator for the Office of Public Affairs in SIU’s School of Medicine, said SIU has no current plans for developing its 10 acres.
“Our current focus is evaluating our existing real estate portfolio from a property management perspective to ensure we are well-positioned for future institutional needs,” Sandstrom said. “Therefore, we aren’t in a position to commit to specific timelines or future uses for the property.”
Ellison said any future development of Memorial’s land would probably happen in the next five to 10 years.
“Until we have a project, we will continue to have that land farmed,” Ellison said.
Molly Wallace is a graduate student at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, specializing in investigative journalism. She is taking part in an internship with Illinois Times.
This article appears in September SBJ 2026.