Here’s the latest on Belleville’s plan to redevelop the Lindenwood campus
While Belleville officials are trying to redevelop the former Lindenwood University-Belleville campus, they have decided to move some city offices to the site.
The offices of the Health, Housing & Building, Code Enforcement, Engineering and Economic Development departments will be temporarily relocated from 407 E. Lincoln St. to the Lindenwood site by the end of March, according to a motion approved by the Belleville City Council last month.
That the city purchased the site for $3 million in September using TIF 3 funds. A date for the move has not been announced.
Mayor Patty Gregory said in a statement this past week that the new location for the offices would help the city’s economic development efforts.
“With the hiring of our new Economic Development Director, Clifford Cross, we have the opportunity to make extensive economic advances throughout our community,” she said. “It is vital at this time to relocate our Economic Development, Engineering and Housing Departments to the campus the city of Belleville now owns, to obtain these advancements.”
The city has not yet decided what it will do with its building and parking lot at 407 E. Lincoln St.
Lindenwood redevelopment
Belleville has not yet announced details of how it plans to redevelop the former Lindenwood campus. The campus is located at 2600 W. Main St. and previously was the site for Belleville West High School.
Gregory had told the City Council in November that, “We have people that want to be in there by Jan. 1 of 2022,” but no such deal has been announced.
Gregory also told the aldermen that the potential clients would be renting the campus from the city.
Kathy Kaiser, a spokeswoman for the city, said this past week that city officials are continuing to work on a redevelopment plan for the Lindenwood site but she did not have details to release.
“When we have everything finished with all the people that are contracting here, I think you’re going to be very pleased with what is happening there,” Gregory told aldermen. Council members had raised questions about the expenses the city was incurring for such items as security and building maintenance at the former Lindenwood site.
Shortly after the City Council on Aug. 2 authorized city officials to buy the college property, Gregory said a state grant would be used to pay for the $3 million price tag.
Jordan Abudayyeh, a spokeswoman for Gov. J.B. Pritzker, has not released information about the state grant despite multiple requests made since August by the Belleville News-Democrat.
Lindenwood bought the campus from the city for $1 in 2003 and established a college that once sported a football team. But the St. Charles, Mo.-based college announced in May 2019 that it was stopping its full-time student program in Belleville because it was losing money.
Lindenwood had listed the Belleville campus for $10 million.
Gregory told aldermen on Nov. 15 that the city expects to recover its maintenance costs at the site.
“There will be reimbursement on these bills that are coming in right now,” she said.
One of the costs included about $79,000 for security cameras and control systems from Utilitra as part of an effort to enhance the security system Lindenwood had previously installed.
Police officers have been patrolling the campus since the city bought the site.
The city has “to provide a safe situation there,” Gregory said.
The mayor said if the property is vandalized, the repair costs could be higher than the costs of providing security for the site.
Gregory also addressed the issue of the length of negotiations with potential clients.
“When you’re dealing with contracts, sometimes it takes longer than anticipated and especially with some of the contracts that we are dealing with right now,” she said.
This story was originally published January 10, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
