It’s finally over: Springfield City Manager David Cameron says the city has reached an agreement with Hotel of Terror Owners Sterling and Melissa Mathis to purchase the property on north Main for $2 million, with the city agreeing to not take possession until January 1, 2027.
Sterling Mathis says after years of uncertainty and legal challenges, his family has decided to settle and move forward, adding it’s been an emotional and exhausting experience and the stress has affected his wife’s health.
Mathis says settlement amount makes it impossible to rebuild the haunted attraction, though he says plans are for Hotel of Terror to open for one last season.
The agreement averts a city-wide ballot measure on August 4th to decide the issue, and Springfield City Council will begin the process of removing the referendum from the ballot.