SPRINGFIELD — The city of Springfield next month plans to open a tourist welcome center on the first floor of the three-story downtown building that once housed Abraham Lincoln's law office.
On Monday, the first floor featured bare walls and no furniture. But major improvements, like replacing the floors and painting, are complete, said Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau tourism manager Jeff Berg.
The building, which sits on the southeast corner of the Old Capitol Plaza, was known by its affiliation with a dry goods store owned by Seth M. Tinsley, who rented rooms on the third floor to Lincoln and William Herndon for their law office from 1843 to 1852.
Owned by the state, the Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices historic site was closed in 2014 for a $1 million renovation that would have recreated the dry goods store. But it never reopened due to the state's budget impasse.
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In April, the Springfield City Council voted unanimously to reopen the building by signing a five-year lease with the state. The welcome center is meant to be an extension of the SCVB and a central location for tourists to get more information. The SCVB office on Seventh Street will remain open for administrative purposes, Mayor Jim Langfelder said.
"You should always have a visitor center on the square," Langfelder said, standing outside of the building. "... People are looking through the windows even now."
The welcome center will have information about the city of Springfield as a whole, beyond the capital city's connection to Abraham Lincoln.
Upon entering the building from Adams Street, tourists will be greeted with photos of local attractions lining the walls and a 10-panel LED display showing information about places to visit, shop and eat. The information desk will be made of wood from Herndon's farm.
"For us to have a fresh, inviting place for people, that's why (the Illinois Department of Natural Resources) and the city have this partnership," said Troy Gilmore, superintendent of state historic sites.
In a room on the same floor, visitors will see a re-creation of a post office that was in the building during Lincoln's time. An adjacent room with a "Tinsley Dry Goods" storefront window will remain vacant, but the city hopes to one day fill it with a gift shop selling Springfield products, Berg said.
Improvements to the building, along with amenities for the welcome center, have cost about $100,000, Berg said. Money for the project comes from the SCVB budget, which is funded through the city's hotel-motel tax. The cost of repairing the building will be reimbursed by the state against the $20,000 in rent the city owes the state for each of the five years it will inhabit the building.
The second and third floors of the building, which have interpretations of Lincoln's law office and a federal courtroom that used to operate during Lincoln's years practicing law, will remain closed to the public. Plans to reopen them depend on money for repairs, Gilmore said.