SPRINGFIELD — Bulldozers and other machinery cleared out a longtime homeless encampment near a Springfield park after the city said it posed health and safety concerns.
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Individuals living in the encampment park along the railroad tracks in Snyder Park were asked to leave today by city officials.
Eight people still living in the encampment were offered shelter and other services, but they all declined, a city spokesperson told News Center 7.
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Some of the people living there said the park had been their home for almost two years.
The city had been discussing the park’s closure for almost a year as officials assessed the health and safety concerns of the encampment, the spokesperson said.
As previously reported by News Center 7, the people living in the camp were given an in-person warning about their removal, or a note was left on their tent before Monday.
A team of police officers, firefighters, a medic and mental health clinician, park rangers, and workers from the Nehemiah Foundation and Sheltered Inc. offered resources to individuals living in the encampment on Monday morning.
Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said the goal was to approach this situation with compassion and care.
“While shelter was offered and declined, our focus remains on safety, dignity, and connecting displaced individuals to the support they need. We remain committed to helping all members of our community,” Rue said.
Springfield resident Earl Suver said he moved to the area from Indiana to pursue a sober lifestyle, as News Center 7’s Amber Jenkins reported at 5:00.
“I ain’t going to lie. I’ve been there. I straightened my life up,” Suver said.
Suver said the people living in the encampment park never bothered him, but he had concerns about the environmental impact of people living there.
“That’s somebody else’s stuff they got to clean up. It looks bad on the environment. It looks bad on everything,” Suver said.
“At least keep it clean. Have respect for people. Would you want somebody living like that in your yard? No,” Suver said.
City officials said additional cleanup of vegetation and debris in the park may continue over the next couple of months.
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