A BRIEF ANALYSIS

OF THE COMMERCIAL

STREET AREA

DANIEL RENNER

CONTENT

HISTORY

THE FOOTBRIDGE

THE LAYERS

COMMERCIAL_

RESIDENTIAL_

INDUSTRIAL_

LIVE/WORK

FUTURE

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this book is to offer precisely what the title implies. It is a brief account of the history and observational notes that I took while getting to know the site.

This is not a totality.

Each place we occupy has an endless amount of things it wants to tell us. So in response, this is merely a snapshot of the experiences and feelings that I have had occupying the Commercial Street area. It is what I believe to be the intrinsic qualities of the site. Aspects important to a beginning of understanding. The essence of the place.

Learning and experiencing is never complete.

INTRODUCTION

North Springfield, as it was once known, came to be in the latter half of the 19th century. The Frisco rail was interested in laying track that spanned from the east coast to the west, and naturally through Missouri. Springfield was a first choice location to begin construction but popular distaste had these plans relocated north a couple miles.

The tracks were built. Commercial and residential districts were erected on either side of the tracks along with warehouses and loadings docks to support the railway. From this beginning came North Springfield. Those who worked for the railway moved into the new residential area north of the tracks on Chase Street. Here they could raise their families and not travel far for work. For sustenance, the workers could cross the tracks to the newly built commercial district, located right on Commercial Street where banks, markets, entertainment, and relaxation could be found. And many who lived in the area started their own business or went to work for existing businesses. It was a self contained urban environment.

HISTORY

As time progressed the footbridge was needed to aid in travel from one district to the other because people did not have the use of automobiles. At this time foot travel was the prevalent means of transportation. Horse and buggy were also used but proved impossible to cross the tracks with. A street car spanning the length of Commercial Street was also employed for a time. This system just worked. A modern urban environment where one could live and work.

But time continued to move and ownership of railway shifted hands and fewer workers were needed. The very nature of the railway changed and North Springfield became less of a support/loading station and more of a stopping-off point. Workers had to look elsewhere for jobs. In result of automobiles being more common, pedestrian traffic shrank. And this effect increased over time. Subsequently, suburban areas and work popped up on the outer edges of North Springfield and further. The fabric that once tied this urban community together faded away.

There is, in the works for the Commercial Street area a change of zoning pertaining to the area just north of the tracks. The idea of an area that is zoned so that it might be used for living and working out of is not a new concept. It has been used and has worked to a degree in several cases. But the idea to move it to the unique area that is the Commercial Street area is something that has not been done.

The plan is to rehabilitate the decrepit houses along chase street and resell them to artist/artisans at very reasonable rates, allowing the buyers to live and create, sell, and show their handiwork out of their own houses; that is if they are accepted and maintain the standards required. The idea is to allow the struggling artist the chance to make their art when it might not normally be possible.

LIVE/WORK

The footbridge becomes very important for this kind of development in two ways:

First, these artists need to be able to access Commercial Street, relatively easy, without relying on the use of motor transportation since occupants might not have the means to purchase or simply choose not to own a car. This is also in the interest of minimizing waste and lowering the use of petroleum products.

Second, the general public needs access to Chase Street in order for a market to exist. Again, foot traffic would be preferred due to the lack of parking and for the aforementioned reasons.

In addition it can be proposed that tenants of the Chase Street Live/Work community might choose to work in the currently renovated Commercial Street district. This would further the argument for the footbridge.

It has also been proposed, to aid in the jump-start of the Live/Work community, that a structure be erected on either end of the footbridge to facilitate and create facilities for the community in the form of a public ‘work shop.’ It is to be a multipurpose facility that would not only bring the community together, but bring the outside Springfield community within to participate and/or observe.

LIVE/WORK

The footbridge was built out of necessity. It was a way to get people from one side of the tracks to the other. Even though it connects the residential area and the commercial area it doesn’t resemble or fit into the architectural styles presented by either, it resembles the industrial age from which it came and the tracks beneath it. Its function was clear and it fulfilled it effectively.

The footbridge is the common man’s way of experiencing the railway.

THE FOOTBRIDGE

In the not so distant past there were talks of taking down the footbridge when the need for it lessened dramatically. But those concerned and respectful of history sought to preserve it and did so. It now stands as a symbol. A symbol of what this Commercial Street area used to be and its importance to Springfield.

Is there a way for it to become more than just a symbol?

THE LAYERS

After some time of observing the area surrounding Commercial Street, several distinct layers began to emerge.

Each layer’s fabric quite different from the others. The pulse of life, the function and form of the built environment, the ideas and ideals of the inhabitants, and the human touch all vary to some degree all the while sharing interesting similarities.

But the boundaries that separate each are not exact. Frequently, similarities cause layers to merge and differences cause layers to conform to one another.

The boundaries become rather invisible.

In attempt to better understand and analyze the layers I am dividing them into three whilst not forgetting the nuances that connect them together.

This is what makes this area interesting...

Anchored on Commercial Street itself, the Commercial Layer includes the old brick buildings on either side of the street and some of the surrounding area. At one time these older buildings served as the commercial district for North Springfield. Littered with taverns, pawnshops, brothels, drug stores, theaters, barbershops, motels and anything else you might need, this layer provided entertainment, work, and sustenance to the workers who lived north of the tracks. Mild pedestrian and vehicular traffic moves along Commercial Street today.

COMMERCIAL_

It was important to have access to all of the amenities by foot in the commercial district so an urban area formed. Multiple story buildings arose out of necessity to maximize the useable footprint of the long, skinny lots running perpendicular to Commercial Street. Buildings are pushed right up to one another frequently creating large continuous building blocks. This layer developed into a linear arrangement to aid in the accessibility by foot, but also because many of the buildings on the north side of the street have a back that not only faces but received goods from the railway. This continuous block is then echoed by the buildings on the south side.

Architecture.The buildings in the Commercial Layer are overwhelmingly masonry (brick in particular) with load-bearing walls running perpendicular to Commercial Street, creating a barrier between properties. The building fronts have minor ornamentation consisting of decorative cornices, usually made of plaster or wood, and often pilasters reaching up from the street level to the cornices.

Street Level.Large open facades are employed by the heavy use of glass to make for an open feel, let a lot of light in, and allow the passerby to view inside. Businesses (especially retail) reside in the street level to allow convenient access.

Upper Level(s).These floors frequently have tall and narrow romanesque windows to provide more privacy. Upper levels are usually reserved for hotels, brothels, or offices where the privacy would be better suited. Today they are being renovated largely as loft apartments; programmatically very similar to the function of yesterday.

COMMERCIAL_

Positioned north of the train tracks, the Residential Layer is comprised primarily of houses. Not unlike the Commercial Layer, business and facilities different in nature than the primary fabric end up finding their way into this layer making it more varied than my title might suggest.

RESIDENTIAL_

In the earliest days of North Springfield the Residential Layer was home to almost all of its inhabitants. Here many families were raised. Many men who worked in the commercial district would cross the footbridge in the morning to go to work but this is where they lived. It was also very common for the men to work for the railroad in some fashion at this time.

Since privacy was most important to the families, the houses were given more space on each lot as opposed to the maximized lots across the tracks. Because every lot could not be placed right along Chase Street, as more space was needed lots began moving north and a grid layout resulted made of main streets and alleyways.

Architecture.The first houses built were simple. They were built of wood, which was incidentally lightweight, easily transported, and quickly erected on site. The form began as a rectangular box with simple hip or gable roofs. Ornament was virtually non-existent. But as time progressed new styles (i.e. an interesting victorian and arts and crafts hybrid) and building methods were introduced into the area creating a rich residential fabric. Wood remained the material of choice.

RESIDENTIAL_

Today, the Residential Layer is a culmination of years of construction, of repairs, of materials, and of styles. A culmination of cultures and of the changes in economy and changes in technology. Walking down the streets and sidewalks in this Layer is to witness first hand change. Here and there are the bandages and growing pains caused by time.

The Industrial Layer is very different from the first two layers. It is no-nonsense.What is not necessary does not exist. Its purpose is for support of the railway.

Primarily, there is the train yard. It exists with a purely capitalist mindset. The railway moves at its own pace. It is steel, raw, and cold. In some twist of fate the Industrial Layer has now turned its back on and is removed from the two Layers surrounding it even though it was the nucleus from which they originated. Even the one building that was so vital to the tracks and the railway, the foundry, is left empty and in ruin.

INDUSTRIAL_

The only remaining connections the area has with the railway today are the noises it produces, the sight it bestows, and the vibrations from its pulse. And the footbridge is probably the most intimate way one has of experiencing these things (one who is not employed by the tracks).

As the industrial layer lost its need for the surrounding layers, it consequently created two sub-industrial layers or buffer zones between it and the residential and commercial layers. The northern buffer zone is of particular interest since it is the resting place of the ruins that would be the industrial support buildings, this including the Foundry and multiple foundations and loading docks.

INDUSTRIAL_

As the railway slowly turned its back on the area the need for its support layers diminished and they started to deteriorate. But over time, these layers have been revitalized and reinvigorated, a process still in its early stages. Sadly it is the sub-industrial layer that never rebounded from its isolation and deterioration.

As previously stated, the commercial and residential layers are in a recent state of revitalization. It is becoming more and more important to those who care for this area to make it the community it once was. To make it a self-sustainable urban community, one where someone may work and live. But we must not forget that the railway is a force that will be present for many years to come, so finding a way to coexist is vital.

FUTURE

Hand in hand with the idea of revitalization and recycling, is the idea of less waste. Using what we have before us and making it better. Wasting not and being self sustainable. The footbridge is that answer. It is the means by which people may live and work in this area and not be dependent on motor transportation.

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