CGHS Needs A Theater So Why Not Rent 'Rose'

I find some things about the Cape Girardeau public school system a little peculiar.

For instance, I've always been baffled by the fact it has no football stadium of its own, but rather rents the University's. The arrangement has apparently been going on for decades. I think this is strange for a school the size of Central.

When I was in high school we had a pretty nice stadium and my alma mater was less than half the size of Cape. Even my town's local Catholic high school -- which only had about 300 students -- had their own football stadium.

So it seems peculiar to me that a school that currently has almost 1300 students doesn't own its own football stadium. But if this relationship between the two schools works, then who am I to question it? It might be peculiar, but if my property taxes don't have to go up, then I'm ok with it.

My friend Eddie is more perplexed by the fact that the Cape Girardeau Central High School which was completed in 2002, was built without an auditorium.

"Whothehell builds a new school without an auditorium," he asked me?

He had just read the article from the Monday Southeast Missourian that discussed how the district -- after holding three fact-finding public forums in March -- was starting work on a plan for construction and renovation projects for the school system. An auditorium for the high school is likely to be part of that outline.

"It's not just an auditorium," I told him. "It's a 'performing arts venue.' There's a difference."

"Whatever you want to call it, howthehell do you build a new school without one?"

"It's not that the school system didn't plan for an auditorium and 'performing arts venue' as well as a sports complex, they just ran out of money and those things succumbed to budget cuts."

"Looks like they've found money somewhere along the lines for the 'sports complex,'" Eddie replied. "Have you been out by the high school? They've got 8 tennis courts, 2 soccer fields, 4 ball diamonds, a nice looking track and a football practice field. If that's not a 'sports complex' I don't know what is. What are they missing? A water-polo arena?"

"I think the city is taking care of that one at the new water park they're building by the Osage Center," I said. "And remember, Cape Central doesn't have a football stadium."

"Well, duh! Have they ever? You know what the school district is doing with these public forums, dontcha?"

That's pretty obvious. The school system appears to be following a game-plan that has been used for years.

After compiling a whole laundry list of problems, you next try to persuade as many people as possible about how horrendously awful those problems are, before talking about how to actually pay for the 'best solutions' to those problems. The 'best solutions' are often a matter of opinion.

And since those solutions are meant to fix problems that are way too big to be paid for with a couple of car-washes and a candy-bar sale, that means the public -- or I should say, local property owners -- will get to pay the bill via tax increases.

I don't like property taxes, but Eddie really hates them.

"It would be one thing if I had kids or grand-kids going to school, but I don't. Where's the value to property owners like me?" he asked. "The least they could do is send some of those teenagers over to mow my lawn once in a while."

When you get Eddie grumbling about property taxes he's hard to turn off.

"In the article they even quote one of the teachers saying that a theater is an 'expensive proposition'. Holymacaroni! If they're actually saying that, then how many millions is this auditorium-performing-arts-venue-theater-thingamajig -- whatever you want to call it -- going to cost?

"If the Cape school system needs a 'performing arts venue,' I don't see why they don't talk to SEMO about leasing the old Rose Theater in the Grauel building. What else is SEMO going to do with that space? The Theater department doesn't want it. They've got their Taj Mahal over by the bridge.

"And you would be nuts to try to retrofit it into classrooms. Can you imagine how much money that would cost? Rose was built as a theater and it should stay a theater."

Eddie's solution to the high school's 'performing arts venue' problem might be unconventional, but I think it makes some fiscal sense. It would be a good use of resources that already exist within the community as a whole.

It might be peculiar solution, but if it keeps property tax increases to a minimum, then I'm ok with it.