Abandoned flour mill one step closer to getting a facelift

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Springfield is one step closer to getting a new restaurant with a historic backdrop.

The two sisters, Sheri Perkins and Renee Textor, who own the land that the old flour mill sits on at National and Chestnut, want to open a restaurant called The Table right in front of the silos.

On Monday, May 20, Springfield City Council voted unanimously to pass the Sister Mill Redevelopment Plan and blight the land.

“It is a win-win for the city because there’s nothing happening at that property currently that the city is benefiting from,” Textor said. “So when we put a restaurant there and a little retail space, they’ll be getting city tax and sales tax.”

“Not to mention the beautification of that corner where nothing is happening right now,” added Perkins. “We hope to bring a lot of life to that corner.”

Part of the land being blighted means the city also passed a tax abatement for the property.

Perkins and Textor have owned the land at National and Chestnut for almost two years.

“We love the silos,” Textor said. “We’ve driven by those since we were children, just wondering about them. And so we want to keep those as long as possible, which looks like for the foreseeable future we’ll be able to. And then we just pivoted and decided to do a new building.”

The plan is to keep the silos on the corner and build something completely new in front of them with space for parking as well.

“We initially bought the property thinking we would do something with the actual silos, but it turns out that they are structurally sound now,” Textor said. “But if we started cutting into the walls and things, it could compromise the structure.”

The sisters are hoping to break ground in June and finish the entire project within a year.

“We just want to make Springfield proud,” Textor said. “We just want to make you proud. We want to offer a spot that just feels like home.”

“A place where anybody can come, feel welcome, celebrate, make memories,” Perkins said.

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