Event will celebrate completion of downtown flood wall upgrades

I was born in a river town (St. Louis), grew up in a river town (Chester, Illinois) and have lived most of my life in a river town (Cape Girardeau).

With the exception of a year in Tucson, Arizona, when my father was serving in the U.S. Air Force, and a couple of years in Carbondale, Illinois, while my wife was in law school, I have always lived along the Mississippi River.

I remember several floods during my childhood and teenage years in Chester that damaged many homes and swallowed low-lying streets. I have particularly vivid memories of helping evacuate families during the "flood of '73" when many of us were excused from classes at Chester High School to fill sandbags in a vain attempt to stave off the rising river.

As a child, I remember coming to Cape Girardeau to visit my grandparents (they lived on North Ellis Street a few steps from Centenary United Methodist Church) and I have vague memories of how the Cape Girardeau riverfront looked before the downtown flood wall was completed in 1964.

In the eyes of a 10-year-old kid (and even now as a "60-something" grandfather), the massive concrete wall stood as an impressive engineering marvel, capable of protecting homes and businesses throughout Cape's downtown district — which it has year in and year out for more than half a century.

This week, the U.S. Army Corps of engineers' St. Louis District and the City of Cape Girardeau will celebrate completion of a $20 million project that started more than a decade ago to help ensure the flood wall will be around for at least the next half century.

A ribbon-cutting will take place at 11 a.m. Wednesday near the Merriwether Pump Station to commemorate the multiyear project city officials say will "enhance the reliability" of the wall.

The project included:

• Placement of rip rap along the river bank beginning in 2009 from the Merriwether Pump Station to the railroad gate on the south end of the wall.
• Refurbishment of pumps and motors at both downtown pumping stations along with installation of new electrical control systems in 2009.
• Rehabilitation of several flood wall sections starting in 2010 that involves cleaning and caulking wall joints, replacement of seals on pedestrian gates, wall reinforcement at certain locations and installation of sheet piling around the railroad gate on the north end of the wall.
• Removal and replacement of 600 feet of toe-drain pipe that required relocation of 1,800 feet of rail by BNSF within a 72-hour time frame in August 2016.
• Extension of pipe for the Merriwether Pump Station discharge and completion of rip rap installation, with work beginning in 2017, but delayed more than two years because of high river stages.

Wednesday's activities will include a commemorative photo, some brief remarks and a self-guided tour. If the weather is bad Wednesday morning, the city could announce on its website, www.cityofcape.org, the relocation of activities to the Shawnee Park Center.

Zaxby's plans to reopen April 26

After shutting down last month because of a lack of staff (some reportedly quit while others were dismissed), Zaxby's will reopen in Cape Girardeau later this month, barring unforeseen circumstances.

In spite of a very tight market for fast-food employees, Manwell Food Group CEO Chris Manwell told me over the weekend he expects to finish hiring sufficient staff for the restaurant by the end of this week. Manwell Food Group, based in Valdosta, Georgia, operates the Zaxby's franchise restaurant at 407 Cape West Crossings in Cape.

"We're coming back faster and better than ever," he said.

Some of the new Zaxby's employees will likely sign on as a result of a hiring event scheduled for noon until 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Cape Girardeau Job Center, 760 S. Kingshighway, Manwell said.

The restaurant's new staff will spend next week going through corporate training with a reopening slated for the following Monday, April 26.

New occupant for former dental office

More than a year after it was vacated, the former Bennett Family Dentistry office on the corner of North Cape Rock and Lombardo drives will soon be reoccupied.

The two-level building at 1200 N. Cape Rock Drive, which was the original home of Cape Bible Chapel, will be the new location of Executive Property Management, now located at 2511 Independence St.

No word at this time on when the move will take place.

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