Woodruff Building

{{Short description|Historic building in Springfield, Missouri}} {{Use American English|date=August 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Woodruff Building | nrhp_type = cp | partof = Springfield Public Square Historic District | image = Woodruff Building Springfield MO Sept2025 A.jpg | caption = The Woodruff Building in Springfield, MO as seen from the corner of St. Louis St. and Jefferson Ave. (ca. 2025) | location= 331 Park Central E.<br>Springfield, Missouri | coordinates={{coord|37|12|33|N|93|17|25|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = Missouri#USA | built = {{Start date|1911}} | added = May 5, 2006 | area = Less than {{convert|1|acre}} | partof_refnum = 06000331<ref name=nris>{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref> }}

The '''Woodruff Building''' is a historic high-rise located in Springfield, Greene County, Missouri. Built in February 1911, it is often called Springfield's first "skyscraper". Originally a commercial style design with hints of early art-deco, a 1959 remodel gave the building turquoise enamel panels with a mid-century look. It houses ten stories.<ref name="nrhp">{{cite web |last1=Miles |first1=Mark |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form |url=https://mostateparks.com/sites/mostateparks/files/Springfield%20Pub%20Sq%20HD%20BI.pdf |website=Missouri State Parks |publisher=United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Woodruff Building Expansion Job Starts |publisher=Springfield Daily News |date=March 7, 1959}}</ref>

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.

==History== In 1908, local business leader, John T. Woodruff purchased the land at the corner of Jefferson Ave. and Park Central East, across the street from his newly constructed Colonial Hotel, another of Woodruff's properties. Woodruff would construct the city's first "sky-scraper", comprising 276 offices, a bank, drug store, post office, tobacco store, barber shop, and billiards parlor. It was touted as Springfield's "newest, most modern, fireproof business structure."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kaitlyn McConnell |title=The Influential Dedication of John T. Woodruff |url=https://www.springfieldchamber.com/the-influential-dedication-of-john-t-woodruff/ |website=Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=John T. Woodruff Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=170898 |website=www.hmdb.org |access-date=21 August 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1959, Woodruff sold the building to F.X. Heer for $700,000. Heer expanded the building, adding 23,000 square feet to Springfield's largest office building, at a cost of $650,000.<ref name="sgcld">{{cite web |title=Woodruff Building, Springfield, Mo. |url=https://sgcld.thelibrary.org/lochist/postcards/woodruff_building.cfm |website=sgcld.thelibrary.org |publisher=Springfield-Greene County Library District |access-date=21 August 2025 |language=en}}</ref> The building changed hands to Warren Davis Properties in 1994, followed by the Vecino Group in 2013.

The Vecino Group would undergo a $13,000,000 rehabilitation of the blighted property, converting it to apartments with retail on the street level. They renamed the building "Sky Eleven", a tribute to the building's construction year of 1911.<ref name="sbj">{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Brian |title=Woodruff owners sketch out $13M renovation |url=https://sbj.net/stories/woodruff-owners-sketch-out-13m-renovation,17499 |website=Springfield Business Journals |publisher=Springfield Business Journal |access-date=21 August 2025 |language=en |date=3 April 2013}}</ref>

Many original details and accents remain to this day but the 1959 remodel is most prominent with the turquoise panels and aluminum windows.

<gallery> Woodruff Building Springfield MO Sept2025 ArtDecoAccent.jpg|Art Deco accents preserved on the exterior of the Woodruff Building in Springfield, MO. Woodruff Building Springfield MO Sept2025 Sign.jpg|Placard outside the Woodruff Building, Springfield, MO. </gallery>

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Category:Commercial buildings completed in 1911 Category:Buildings and structures in Springfield, Missouri Category:National Register of Historic Places in Greene County, Missouri