Answer Man: What’s going on at the old Dodge dealership on West Sunshine Street next to KY3 and Car-Mart? There have been contractors and painters on the site and I saw Faith Paving equipment there. — Kevin Hugo, owner of Smart Choice Auto Sales and U-Haul, 2927 W. Sunshine St.
It's going to be a Caliber Collision auto body repair center.
Caliber, founded in 1997, has 1,600 shops across the country, making it one of the largest auto body companies in the nation.
The company is privately owned and has 25,000 employees and is based in Lewisville, Texas.
Caliber has filed for numerous permits from the city since February. On those permits, the property owner is listed at “Sunshine 1025 limited liability company.”
The address is 1025 W. Sunshine.
The names of actual owners do not have to be disclosed in articles of incorporation.
For many years a Dodge car dealership was at the location, starting with Central Dodge and then Corwin Dodge.
The Corwin Automotive Group, based in Fargo, North Dakota, moved its dealership to 25 acres in north Springfield — East Kearney Street and U.S. Highway 65 — in 2021.
According to online property records, the Sunshine Street location has 4 acres. The sale of the Sunshine Street property occurred on Oct. 24, 2022, according to public records.
A worker onsite told me this week the remodeling work should be finished in a few months.
I sent an email to the corporate spokesperson to confirm that but — as often happens in the world of journalism — the corporate spokesperson in another state did not get back to me by deadline to confirm what the local person here in Springfield already told me.
I do not know when the remodeling work started but, as I stated, the first permits were issued by the city in February.
This is Answer Man column No. 48.
