SPRINGFIELD — Kim Young said she understood the emotional connection and sentimental value that the Virgil Hickox Building, known primarily for being the home to the iconic Norb Andy’s Tabarin, held for so many people in Springfield.
“My husband (Bradley) and I feel the same way,” Young told The State Journal-Register recently. “We’ve spent a lot of time there with kids over the years. My husband did a lot of work in that building.”
A fire early on the morning of Feb. 28 was estimated to have done $500,000 damage to the three-story building at 518 E. Capitol Ave., according to Springfield Fire Assistant Chief Julie Plunk.
A passer-by called in the fire after noticing smoke coming from the building’s eaves.
While the fire was contained to the roof, there was smoke and water damage throughout the entire building, Plunk said.
Plunk said the fire was being investigated by the Springfield Fire Safety Division.
Young said she was under the belief that a break-in occurred based on what was found on the scene, included drug paraphernalia and a sleeping bag.
There hasn’t been any trouble like that in the past at the downtown building, said Young.
The couple are powers of attorney and longtime friends of the building’s owner, Dave Ridenour.
The building has been on the market since late in 2025, Young said.
The two upper floors haven’t been occupied since Ridenour bought the building in 2010, Young said. The last restaurant, Anchors Away, closed in early 2023.
Ridenour told the SJ-R’s Natalie Morris in mid-2023 that he was going to revive Norb Andy’s, but an opening never materialized.
The building dates from either 1837 or 1839, according to different sources. The namesake of the building was a Springfield businessman who chaired the Democratic State Committee for 20 years and was an associate of both Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas.
Although they disagreed politically, Lincoln once wrote a law client that “he always found Mr. Hickox a fair man in his dealings.”
The Hickox family remodeled their house several times before moving out in 1880, when Virgil Hickox died.
The basement bar held one of Springfield’s first post-Prohibition liquor licenses which was issued to owner “Hoot” Francis in 1932.
Norb Andy’s name descends from Norbert Anderson, who operated the tavern for four decades, beginning in 1937. It became a favorite watering hole and dining place for the Capitol crowd and included the “Scuttlebutt Room.”
According to a 2023 State Journal-Register story, the unusual spelling of “tabarin” was an attempt to get around a city ordinance that prohibited taverns from using the word “bar” in their names. Anderson erected a sign describing his business as a “taBARin” with “bar” in capital letters.
The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and once served as a mercantile store and funeral home and was an early home to the Sangamo Club.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Fire at historic downtown building estimated to be around $500K
Reporting by Steven Spearie, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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