Commercial Locksmith in Springfield, IL

Springfield's commercial doors

Springfield's historic downtown centers on the Old State Capitol and the commercial square around it, with the State Capitol and its office buildings to the west and the Mid-Illinois Medical District to the north. Each part brings different doors.

• Traditional storefronts. When a downtown building is renovated or applies to the Historic Façade Restoration Program, the city's Historic Sites Commission checks the work against its 2008 design guidelines, which picture the traditional storefront door as wood around a large pane of glass. A door like that leaves only a narrow frame for the lock, so new hardware has to fit it.
• Mid-century aluminum storefronts. The same guidelines want aluminum storefronts from the 1940s through the 1960s kept, period details included. On those doors, a cylinder can often be rekeyed or swapped while the visible hardware stays, and worn parts can go to lock repair.
• Office and medical buildings. Wherever a building has suites, storage rooms and records rooms, as office and medical buildings often do, a master key system lets a manager open every door while each employee opens only their own.
• Harvard Park. This neighborhood was designed for both homes and factories. A business anywhere in it should list every entry, rear doors included, since each may need its own plan.

Staff and tenant turnover

Keys leave with people. When an employee departs without returning a key, or a commercial tenant moves out, rekeying the affected cylinders is simpler than hoping every copy came back. Keep a written log of who holds which key, and number each key so a missing one is obvious. A landlord with several storefront tenants should settle who holds keys to shared doors, rear corridors and utility rooms before each lease starts.

What to include

• The building and each door involved: storefront, rear, suite or interior
• How many doors, and which should share a key
• Whether the building is under Historic Sites Commission review
• Who is authorized to approve lock changes for the business or building

The Springfield page describes the downtown district in more detail.