SPRINGFIELD, MO – Mother Nature is helping reveal hints of the bygone era when the city was a hub for the region’s farming industry.
Atop a long-vacant grain elevator near Chestnut Expy. at National Ave. sits an old double-sided billboard. Over the decades, advertisers took advantage of its towering location to promote a variety of brands and products. The last ads seen were for Budweiser and Busch Light around 2012, and it has been blank since then. Now, drivers are noticing the building’s heritage is slowly bleeding through.
You may have to squint a little, but you now see the remnants of the original “MFA FEEDS” lettering and emblem on the east-facing side of the sign. For years, the elements have been slowly chipping away at the white paint covering the old billboards. Recent weathering has made the underlying layer even more visible. Story continues below photo.
The old grain elevator, located at 610 N. Prospect Ave., is now owned by The Table restaurant. The new eatery opened on the property last year. The owners, sisters Sheri Perkins and Renee Textor, constructed a new restaurant on the site, but the mill structures themselves remain vacant. The new business marks the first activity on the site in the 50 years since the mill closed in the 1970s…