Tucked away in the southwest part of Springfield is a beautiful subdivision named Village Green, which is part of the Greater Parkcrest registered neighborhood. Village Green has two columns at the intersection of Broadway and Walnut Lawn as you enter the subdivision, and that is where this story begins.
If you have been around long enough and are familiar with the area, you have heard the columns called many names – castles, concrete pillars, columns and “those two white things at the end of Broadway,” to name a few. Kids have played on and around them for years on their way to and from Horace Mann Elementary.
Several years ago, a young man missed the curve and ran into one of the columns with his car. Only then did we find out that the bricks that make up the columns had been specially made here in Springfield. When those of us helping the company put the column back together, we found out that those bricks were no longer being made on a regular basis! Thankfully, the company agreed to make the bricks for us to fix the column.
When it was completed, we painted it white again for a while and then a soft green with only the letters “V” and “G” painted in black and we added solar lights. In May, we began another refresh for the columns, which included a new paint job and letters. The refresh was completed in June.