LETTERS: PRESERVING OUR HISTORY

To the editor:

The old Glenn house is a remarkable and excellent example of a part of the history of our town. The committee promoting the restoration of St. Vincent's as one of our city treasures is to be congratulated.

I approve and second Mary Kasten's idea that it would be great to preserve old St. Francis Hospital as yet another great landmark of our town.

St. Francis was of great importance in maintaining the health and well-being of our town through the years. I had my first surgery there many years ago. I am not the only one who has had a stay at the landmark. From the reports I have read, it seems that it is still redeemable. If such a program is delayed another 50 years, it will probably be beyond repair or cost a fortune. If we wait for the federal government to demolish it to build at federal building at that site, it will take even longer than trying to get a balanced budget.

It might be used for a nursing training school, a supervised youth center, a hostel, a temporary refuge or some other worthwhile community service. We can't wait forever until it collapses beyond the possibility of revival. Few people are going to travel from around the world just to see the Glenn house, but our historic town can emphasize its historical significance with some of these landmarks as attractions. Wasn't it Mark Twain who once called Cape Girardeau the "Athens of Missouri?" We should be trying to preserve it before it crumbles into the ashes of yesteryear.

I lived for a time in a third-world country, much poorer than ours, in which the law required that every landowner repair, paint and spruce up his property each year just before the national holiday on Aug. 6. That town has now grown from approximately 150,000 inhabitants to 404,000. It was always a pleasure to see the town just before their Fourth of July celebrations (on Aug. 6). It was good too to see how the inhabitants took pride in their city once they saw the potential beauty of their town as renovations and improvements were made. People preferred to maintain their properties in good repair and appearance rather than pay the steep fine assessed for noncompliance.

Have you ever had a sty on your eye? It probably wasn't life-threatening, but it was possibly a nuisance or discomfort. As I travel through some parts of our town, I can observe some places which are becoming eyesores to the community. It won't be long until they become what in the larger cities are called slums.

If it can be done in a poorer third-world country, I don't know why it can't be done here. I think we would all be the prouder for it. It just seems that cleanliness and appearance as well as normal preservation will add to the attractions offered by our city and will produce dividends in tourist participation.

IVAN NOTHDURFT

Cape Girardeau