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5 Community-Led Reinvestment In The East Side
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Community-Led Reinvestment In The East Side
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Springfield’s East Side has been historically perceived as the heart of Springfield’s AfricanAmerican community. Like most communities in America, policies and planning practices in Springfield favored segregation well into the latter half of the 20th Century, not only limiting where Black residents could live, but limiting their opportunity to thrive as well. Supporting and uplifting the East Side community, and meeting its unique needs, is a focus of The Next 10.
Investment In The Economic, Physical And Social Infrastructure
This vibrant community has roots reaching back to the town’s founding. Poverty and food insecurity are significant, business opportunities are challenged, and the physical infrastructure is in need of a refresh. Your commitment to supporting the East Side shone through The Next 10, with specific actions that include: • Compiling and creating funding tools and incentives for investment in the East Side, including activation of the Opportunity Zone and creation of a Community Development Corporation (CDC) • Targeted investment to support the revitalization of the South Town business district • Establishment of an East Side Business Accelerator and Personal Financial Support Center, with programs and advisory services to help low-income families get on track to succeed financially • Programming and conversations to bring awareness to challenges and opportunities, and to help the community understand how they can support the East Side Intentional and significant investment in East Springfield is a hallmark of The Next 10. Engaging citizens to forge their own paths forward for their neighborhoods and communities is central to our democracy. Bringing additional resources to historically marginalized communities is the right thing to do and the smart thing to do for the benefit of our entire region. I am excited to see a resurgence of positive activity in East Springfield.”
DORIS TURNER
Illinois State Senator
Promising Ideas
» Develop CAP 1908 Project » Reinvigorate the Neighborhood of Hope » Enhance youth recreation, sports and extracurricular opportunities
DID YOU KNOW?
In 2019, the City of Springfield commissioned an architectural survey of the East Side to inventory and research historic properties and to identify potential candidates for local landmark status and National Register of Historic Places designations. Through The Next 10, these designations will be realized, and resources and partnerships will be developed to restore, activate and preserve these properties. Some of the notable properties include: • Firehouse No. 5 • The Lincoln Colored Home • The Judge Taylor Home
During Reconstruction, the arrival of many new Black individuals and
families included former slaves who were drawn to Springfield
because of its association with Abraham Lincoln. As they arrived, Blacks, Whites and people of all ethnicities were largely integrated in Springfield communities. However, the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the emergence of Jim Crow laws which crept into Springfield from the south, changed that. The Springfield Race Riot of 1908 was the pinnacle of racial tensions. It would also be the catalyst for the formation of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Segregationist planning and policies which emerged throughout the early 20th century largely pushed the Black community to the East Side. By the
mid-1900s, urban renewal demolished blocks of Black-owned homes and their primary business district.
The Springfield and Central Illinois African American History
Museum—a museum of African American history and culture—was founded in 2012 by local advocates and moved to a permanent location adjacent to Springfield’s Oak Ridge cemetery in March 2016.
