Springfield Voters Will Decide Fate of Hotel of Terror in August Ballot

Sterling Mathis has blocked the city of Springfield from condemning his family's haunted house attraction twice now, and he's prepared to do it a third time at the ballot box.

The Springfield City Council decided against repealing the ordinance that would end the eminent domain process, instead sending the issue to voters. Springfield voters will be asked Aug. 4 whether to repeal Special Ordinance 28232, originally approved by City Council on Dec. 15, 2025, which authorized the use of eminent domain to acquire the property at 334 N. Main St. for a public infrastructure project.

The vote was unanimous on both counts: the council declined to repeal the ordinance and referred the question directly to the public. The trigger was a referendum petition Mathis submitted in February 2026. City Clerk Anita Cotter certified the petition, and under the City Charter, certification required City Council to take action within 30 days. The petition required 1,499 signatures based on turnout in the April 2025 election; Mathis submitted what he said was 2,400 signatures.

The city's case for condemnation rests on engineering and infrastructure grounds. City leaders say they need the land to replace a 100-year-old bridge on Main Street, which MoDOT rates as being in "poor" condition. Mayor Jeff Schrag read a statement before the vote explaining the constraint: "The Hotel of Terror building sits immediately adjacent to the bridge and creek channel. This location is where the replacement bridge and supporting structure must be built. Engineering analysis state the building was constructed directly next to the bridge leaving insufficient space to safely construct the foundations and expand the channel needed for modern replacement."

Public Works Director Smith said that where the floodwaters would need to flow under a new bridge is where the Hotel of Terror building stands now. At its last inspection, MoDOT rated the bridge a 2 out of 9 on the National Bridge Inventory System, and the city wants to replace it with a two-lane bridge with ADA-compliant sidewalks before the rating reaches 1 and the bridge must close.

The bridge replacement is part of the Renew Jordan Creek Phase 1 project, which is already underway and aims to attract downtown investment and address stormwater flooding issues that have repeatedly inundated downtown Springfield businesses.

The city offered Mathis $2 million for the property; his latest counteroffer, in November 2025, was $3.5 million, which led the city to pursue eminent domain. The city sought eminent domain after negotiations over nearly six years failed to result in an agreement; the city had agreed at one point to a $2 million settlement offer, but that offer was withdrawn and replaced with a new one from Mathis of $3.5 million, plus an additional $100,000 per week after the first 60 days that a deal wasn't signed.

Councilman Brandon Jenson said that while the Hotel of Terror's cultural significance should be factored into a fair purchase price, he believes Mathis is asking too much, noting the counteroffer included expanding Mathis's other haunted house attraction, Dungeons of Doom, by 11 percent and creating tenant space.

This is the second time the council has authorized eminent domain on the property, and the second time Mathis has forced the issue back to council with a petition. For the second time in less than three years, the Springfield City Council unanimously approved the use of eminent domain on the property Dec. 15, after years of unsuccessful negotiations between Mathis and the city. The first time, the council chose to repeal the ordinance rather than refer it to voters, allowing negotiations to resume. This time, the council held firm.

The business has been family-owned since 1978, started by the parents of current owner Sterling Mathis. Mathis described it as "a custom-built scare attraction that draws thousands of visitors every year and boosts our local economy, creates jobs and puts the city on the map for something truly unique," adding, "This isn't a building, it's memories for generations, and it's a part of downtown Springfield's history."

After Monday's vote, Mathis left little doubt about his next move. "We're going to get people to vote," he said. "Whether or not that was a scare tactic or not. We're going to get the people of this town to vote and keep it right where it is. Let them build around us."

The August 4 ballot will determine whether Special Ordinance 28232 remains in effect, and with it, whether a nearly half-century-old Springfield institution survives the project meant to fix the bridge beneath which Jordan Creek has flooded downtown for years.