The Building

The Heritage Center was originally Springfield’s City Hall and Marketplace, a municipal building constructed in 1890 and held city offices, a council chamber, an opera house, and a farmers’ market. The architect for this building, Charles A. Cregar, was a native of Springfield and designed other buildings in the area including St. John’s Lutheran Church, the Clark County Courthouse, and the old downtown Post Office. 

The 56,000 square foot building stands 50 wide by 462 feet deep. The main body of the building is red brick with stone trim and is capped at either end with stone towers, the east rising another four stories above the roofline with the western one rising only three. The architectural style of the building is known as Richardsonian Romanesque. The distinguishing characteristics of this style include broad roof planes, uniform rock-faced exterior finishes, decorative flashing ridges, eaves close to the walls, short and squat chimneys, corbels, deep-set windows and large, arched entryways without columns or piers for support.