A permanent amphitheater for free Levitt AMP Springfield Music Series concerts and other community events would be built on the downtown Y block, and the state would acquire the two-acre property as part of a $4 million, state-funded development plan for a public park that City Council members may consider for approval this month.
Mayor Misty Buscher on July 7 discussed preliminary details of the plan to accomplish what two previous mayors failed to do – fully develop the city-owned 2.25-acre site in the heart of downtown.
A July 8 news release from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources said the park’s focal point would be a natural limestone amphitheater with seating for 500 people, plus open lawn seating for an additional 1,000 to 3,000 people.
The release said conceptual designs for the park include landscaping featuring all native Illinois plants. Additional features would include shaded gathering areas, ADA-accessible walking paths and a natural play space for children.
“The city of Springfield and Mayor Misty Buscher have been valuable and engaged partners throughout the planning process,” IDNR Interim Director Renee Snow said in a written statement. “Our shared vision is for residents and visitors in the capital city to have a vibrant, welcoming and inclusive green space in the heart of Springfield for all to enjoy.”
Details about challenges posed by underground “remediation” that Buscher said needs to be done at the site and a timeline for construction were unavailable when Buscher spoke to the media after a City Council meeting.
Buscher, who was elected to her first four-year term in 2023 and plans to ask voters for another term in 2027, said Springfield residents tell her they love coming to Levitt AMP’s summer concerts and want the site to become a park available for events year-round. The concert series is in its eighth season.
“They’d like to see something prettier than just a blank piece of grass,” Buscher said. “There are plenty of buildings we need to rehab and remodel downtown. So putting another structure there would take away from the beauty of that area.”
Buscher and six of Springfield’s 10 alderpersons, including Ald. Shawn Gregory, in whose ward the property sits, are sponsors of the proposed ordinance to convey the site to IDNR.
An IDNR representative is expected to make a presentation about the proposed “Governor’s Park” project at the City Council’s July 14 committee of the whole meeting. The council could take a final vote on the plan at its July 21 meeting.
State Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, said in the IDNR news release: “This project represents a long-term investment in the well-being of our community and a vibrant downtown. Springfield residents and visitors of our capital city deserve to enjoy welcoming, accessible green spaces where families can gather, connect and create lasting memories. I am excited to see this vision move one step closer to becoming reality.”
The Y block – immediately north of the Governor’s Mansion – is bounded by Capitol Avenue on the north, Jackson Street on the south, Fifth Street to the east and Fourth Street to the west.
The city of Springfield bought the block, home to the former YWCA building, in 2014 for about $1.5 million, during the administration of former Mayor Mike Houston.
At the time, Houston called it “the most developable block” in the capital city. Former Ward 6 Ald. Cory Jobe said the block was “a blank canvas, an open slate for something unique” and “the most important block since the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum was built.”
Various ideas for the site ranged from a law school campus to an apartment complex and private businesses.
A plan for the block was proposed by former Mayor Jim Langfelder in 2017 and backed by then-Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican. But momentum for the project faded when a group backing the development argued with organized labor about the lack of a project labor agreement.
Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, has shown interest in finding a way to develop the site. The State Journal-Register reported that Pritzker said in 2024 that any new development should maintain “openness to the public and be active year-round.”
Buscher, the former city treasurer whose election denied Langfelder’s bid for a third term, said she discovered after becoming mayor that the city needed to redo an earlier environmental assessment of the site, then pay about $49,000 for a detailed “phase two” environmental study.
The latest study, which is being evaluated by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, will determine what underground work needs to be done to certify the safety of proceeding with park development, Buscher said.
The mayor said she didn’t have details of results from that phase two study, and Illinois Times has requested the information from the city.
Buscher said the proposed ordinance allows IDNR to withdraw from the property transfer deal if state officials decide that any required remediation would be too expensive.
The land transfer proposal was hammered out by attorneys for the city and state in recent weeks, she said.
The site would remain an “amphitheater-type space,” Buscher said, adding that California-based Levitt AMP officials indicated they would want to continue sponsoring the concert series at the newly developed site.
The mayor said the amphitheater would be created to give audience members unencumbered views of the permanent stage – similar to the layout of the Springfield Municipal Opera.
In addition, Buscher said, the park would have benches “where you can stop and eat lunch if you work downtown. It’ll have a playground for children, a natural playground.”
The IDNR news release said the park’s layout “will be aligned with the Governor’s Mansion to enhance the visual connection between the adjacent blocks and will incorporate design elements inspired by the residence’s historic oval lawn. Interpretive signage will share the history of the park site, including information about the former YWCA building. Plans also call for a dedicated ‘Community Row’ space for vendor tents, mobile restrooms and a food truck plaza along the closed Jackson Street area to support concerts and other events.”
The site would be maintained in perpetuity by the state, Buscher said, “So the taxpayers have a win. They have a beautiful natural park downtown and a partnership with the state.”
Buscher, a Republican serving in an officially nonpartisan job, said Governor’s Park eventually would be connected by a walkway to the Third Street Greenway, a six-mile park dubbed “The Linc” between Stanford Avenue and the Illinois State Fairgrounds that is proposed for the Third Street rail line to be vacated as part of railroad relocation.