STRICTLY BUSINESS: CONSTRUCTION: DOWN HERE IN APRIL BUT UP FOR THE YEAR

April construction activity in Cape Girardeau was down 8 percent from April 1995.

Totals for the month were reported at $1,271,450, compared to $2,437,466 during the same month a year ago, according to the city's Division of Inspection Services.

Building permits were up, however, at 51, compared to 44 during the same period a year ago. But many of the permits were for decks, a pool, sheds, remodeling and repairs.

Residential construction for the month was almost $1 million, said Rick Murray, building inspector and supervisor of Cape Girardeau Inspection Service. "The exact figure is $907,000 for new house construction and about $140,000 for residential additions, remodeling and repairs.

Four new residential starts accounted for $730,000, ranging from a low of $125,000 to $280,000, an average of $182,500. Two duplexes were counted in new residential units, at combined cost of $177,000.

Construction in Cape Girardeau is up for the first four months from last year. Totals for the four months are $17.8 millions, compared to $16.5 million during the same period a year ago.

Construction is nearing completion on the new Academy of Scuba Diving facility at 2005 N. Kingshighway.

The 6,000-square-foot building will include showroom, offices and two classrooms.

One classroom can be converted into a 45-x-20 scuba-diving tank. A unique feature of the new facility will be an observation room where visitors can observe diving training in progress.

Wayne Hughes, a master diver, announced plans for the new facility last year. He hopes, he said, "we can start moving into the new facility next month."

Activity down statewide

March construction activity in Missouri was down 2 percent from March 1995.

Totals for the month were reported at $506,754,000, compared to the $516,204,000 during the same month a year ago, according to the F.W. Dodge Division of McGraw-Hill, an authority on the construction market. Dodge, which issues monthly totals in its Dodge Report, also publishes Sweet's Catalog Files.

Nonresidential construction during March, which includes commercial, manufacturing, and other buildings not designed for shelter was reported at $191,060,000, down 6 percent from the $202,676,000 figures of March 1995.

Residential construction was $242,129,000, up 11 percent from the $218,859,000 in March 1995.

Nonbuilding construction, which includes streets, highways, bridges, river and harbor developments, airports and a few other projects, was reported at $73,565,000 for March, down 22 percent from the 94,669,000 March 1995.

Total construction is down 14 percent for the first quarter of the year. January, February and March totals are at $1,232,344,000, down from the $1,441,086,000.

National statistics about even

Nationally, new construction contracts climbed 7 percent in March, rebounding from a weak February, to an annualized $306.8 billion. Substantial improvement was shown by two of the industry's three main sectors -- nonresidential building and nonbuilding construction (public works and utilities).

Nonresidential construction in March was at $104.7 billion, up 17 percent from February's lackluster volume. Most commercial categories showed improvement, including offices, up 9 percent, stores, up 20 percent, and warehouses, up 34 percent. A 211 million-passenger terminal at New York's JFK International Airport helped boost the totals.

Nonbuilding construction revealed a 13 percent increase, to $65.2 billion. Highway construction, the largest public works category, climbed 10 percent, and bridge projects advanced 34 percent.

Residential construction fell 2 percent to $136.9 billion. The pace of single-family housing during the first quarter is up 5 percent from the final quarter of 1995.

On an unadjusted basis total construction during the first three months was unchanged from the same period a year ago. Non residential building was down 13 percent, but nonbuilding construction was up 1 percent, and residential building was up 12 percent from a weak first quarter in 1995.

Boyd looking to Illinois

Boyd Gaming Corp. is adding an Illinois riverboat casino to its gambling holdings.

The Boyd Group, headquartered in Las Vegas, has entered into an agreement to buy Par-a-Dice Gaming Corp., owner and operator of the Par-a-Dice Riverboat Casino at East Peoria.

The sale must be approved by the Illinois Gaming Board.

The closing of the transaction will provide Boyd Gaming Corp. with its 11th gambling property and first in Illinois.

The price is $175 million, consisting of $163 million in cash and the assumption of $12 million debt. Also included in the deal is a share of an adjacent 204-room hotel, which is under construction, and a vacant potential gaming site in Missouri.

Boyd owns and operates six properties in Las Vegas, including the Stardust Resort on the Vegas Strip. The company also owns and operates gambling properties in Mississippi, Louisiana and Missouri, at Kansas City.

"We're excited about entering the Illinois gaming market," said William S. Boyd, chairman and chief executive officer of Boyd Gaming. "Par-a-Dice has an excellent operation with first-rate facilities and an exemplary track record of growing revenues and earnings. We're looking forward to building on what Par-a-Dice has already accomplished."

Par-a-Dice was the second riverboat to start operations in Illinois, opening in Peoria in 1993. The company expanded its facilities a year later, with a new riverboat that includes 26,000 square feet of casino space, 1,001 slot machines and 42 table games spread over four decks. The land-based pavilion houses a restaurant, lounge, banquet space, gift shop and ticket areas.

Par-a-Dice, which attracted more than 660,000 visitors during the first quarter, has shown a gradual increase each year of operation, from 1,104,367 during its first full year in 1992 to 1,198,166 in 1995. The operation averaged more than 8,750 people a day during January, February and March, producing almost $25 million in adjusted gross receipts.

A demolition project

Boyd Gaming Corp., which has signed a development agreement with the City of Cape Girardeau for a $51.1 million gambling riverboat operation in the downtown area, has arranged for demolition of an old service station and its tanks on North Main Street, part of the site for the dockside portion of the proposed complex.

The Boyd proposal for Cape Girardeau includes a three-deck, 254-foot riverboat, a five-level parking garage, a terminal building that will provide the main entrance to the casino complex plus a 250-seat buffet restaurant, a 225-seat entertainment lounge with a bandstand, dance floor and bar, a pedestrian bridge crossing the river wall and the docking barge.

Largest gambling complex

Meanwhile, construction is continuing on the largest casino project in Missouri, a four-boat gambling complex at Maryland Heights, which is looking to a January opening.

The $270 million project is a joint venture between Harrah's Entertainment Inc. and Players International Inc., and will include four casinos, each with 22,500 square feet.

The complex is designed to have separate boarding times, thus virtually eliminating delays in entering the casinos.

All the non-gaming facilities will be jointly owned, but each company will own and manage its own casino.

Total employment at the project will be 3,200. Harrah's, which will manage the hotel, will employ 2,000 and Players will employ 1,200.

Players has riverboat gambling operations in Metropolis, Ill., Lake Charles, La., and a land-based casino in Mesquite, Nev.