The Walk to Liberty Junction: Why the Courthouse Site Is the Wrong Choice for Springfield

Metro Center Voice has released a new television spot about the Springfield Regional Justice Center and where the state plans to build it.

The spot makes its case by showing the route. It follows the walk from downtown Springfield to 125 Liberty Street, the Liberty Junction site the state has conditionally approved, almost 20 minutes from the core of Metro Center. Along the way, it asks two questions of viewers: Does this walk feel safe? Would you take it?

For most people, the answer is no. Jurors, attorneys, court staff and visitors won’t make that walk. They’ll drive to the courthouse and leave, or they’ll stay where they are. Either way, the foot traffic that a courthouse brings to downtown every weekday, and the lunches, errands and appointments that come with it, will stop reaching Metro Center’s businesses.

That is the larger cost the spot points to. A courthouse is a generational public investment. Placed in Metro Center, it reinforces a downtown that already has the buildings, the storefronts and the businesses ready to serve it. Placed at Liberty Junction, it moves that investment out of downtown. The spot leaves the final judgment to viewers, closing with a simple challenge: You decide.