Springfield American Legion Post 40 moves to more visible location

American Legion Post 40 is now on 42nd Street, where commander Nick Gillaspie says more veterans should be able to see it and walk in for help. The Springfield post moved from 344 8th Street to 219 42nd Street after roughly two years of renovations, and members marked the change with a ribbon-cutting that drew families, Springfield Chamber members and city officials, including Mayor Sean VanGordon and Lane County Commissioner David Loveall.

The new site used to be an office building, and the remodel was extensive. Workers removed walls and part of the roof, turning a smaller building, about half the size of the old one, into a place with larger meeting space and a more public profile along a corridor that carries roughly 15,000 cars a day. For Gillaspie, that visibility is the point: the post wants more veterans to know it is there.

That matters because Post 40 is more than a social stop for local veterans. The organization advocates for veterans, service members and military families, and it provides practical help such as housing assistance and health-care navigation. Service officer Joe Cioffi said he plans to be present during the week so veterans can walk in and connect with resources without needing to navigate the system alone.

The move also places the post in a part of Springfield where its public role is already visible. The City of Springfield and Post 40 co-hosted the 77th Annual Memorial Day Ceremony on May 25 at Veterans Plaza, and city materials also show a Veterans Breakfast co-hosted by the city and the post with VanGordon. Those events underscore how the organization fits into the city’s broader veterans network, not just its own membership.

Post 40 has deep roots in Springfield. Springfield Post No. 40, The American Legion, was filed as an Oregon domestic nonprofit corporation on January 3, 1945, making it part of the city’s civic landscape for more than 80 years. The American Legion itself dates to 1919 and describes itself as America’s oldest and congressionally sanctioned veterans organization.

The post’s new address is 219 42nd Street, Springfield, OR 97478, and its phone number is 541-746-1752. For a veterans group built around access, the move is meant to make that number, that address and the help behind them easier to find.