NEW HOTELS TO BOOST AREA'S LODGING OVER 1,000-ROOM MARK

Two new hotels will add more than 120 rooms to the area's lodging facilities.

"This will put us over the 1,000-room level," said Mary Miller, director of the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau, which keeps tabs on motel rooms in the area.

Drury Suites Hotel, owned and operated by Drury Inns Inc., recently opened at the southwest corner of Interstate 55 and Route K, boosting total rooms over 900.

MidAmerica Hotels Corporation announced plans in late May to construct a 78-room, mini-suite hotel and two specialty restaurants on Cape Girardeau's west side, near the corner of Mount Auburn and Route K.

Drury Southwest announced recently that a 44-room motel will be constructed near the intersection of Route 61 and Interstate 55 near Fruitland, with a projected opening for June of 1995.

Construction of the $3-million-plus, three-story hotel at Cape Girardeau started last week, and has a tentative opening target date of February of 1995, according to Dan Drury, president of MidAmerica. Work on the restaurants will start in mid-summer, with March 1995 opening dates.

With the addition of the new motel, MidAmerica will have 397 rooms in Cape Girardeau. The mini-suite hotel rooms will offer microwaves, refrigerators, satellite/cable TV, three phones with data ports and a couch with a fold-out bed. Many of the rooms will also offer double-size whirlpool baths.

Groundbreaking was held recently for the hotel in the Fruitland area. It will include single rooms and suites, said David Poe, operations director for Drury Southwest.

Construction permits

The Cape Girardeau American Red Cross will move into a new building this summer.

"Our building here has been sold," said Mary Burton, executive director of the local Red Cross chapter, now located at 2610 Gerhardt St. "The buyer has been very gracious and generous in letting us stay until a new building is ready."

The new structure, a 4,250-square-foot building specially designed for the Red Cross, will be constructed at 116 S. Broadview and leased to the Red Cross.

A permit for the $180,000 structure was issued this month.

"The contractor tells us it should be ready in 90 to 120 days," said Burton. "We're excited about the new building. It will mean an expansion for Red Cross services. We'll have a fixed site for blood donations, which will make it more convenient for people to come in and donate blood."

Permits for more than $1 million in commercial construction have been issued by the Cape Girardeau permit office during the first half of June, with the largest project a $672,000 office building scheduled at 101 S. Farrar.

Remodeling, expansions and alterations account for more than $125,000, including work on a service station at 740 Broadway, which will house the Downtown Sinclair Service Station, now located at 212 N. Main.

The former Downtown Sinclair station has been purchased by Boyd Gaming Corporation for parking facilities for the riverboat gambling casino, which will be established on the Mississippi River here.

Housing starts nationally rebounded 2.6 percent in May despite higher mortgage rates that had caused construction of new homes and apartments to decline just a month earlier, the government said.

Starts nationally totaled 1.51 million at a seasonably adjusted annual rate, up from a revised 1.47 million in April, the Commerce Department said.

Single family housing permits in Cape Girardeau were also down in May but are up for the first five months of the year. Nine permits were issued in May, in the amount of $1.45 million, for an average of $150,000.

A month earlier, 17 permits were issued in April in the amount of $2.4 million for an average of almost $140,000. For the year, locally, more than 45 home permits were issued through May.

Mortgages rates continued to climb in May, reaching 8.77 percent by May 12, the highest since 8.84 percent in May 1992. But they had fallen back to 8.25 percent by last week.

Area economic development

Union County in Southern Illinois has been recognized for establishing an economic development corporation to attract business.

The Union County Economic Development Corp. (UCEDC) was founded in February of 1993 after more than 450 jobs had been lost with the closing of a shoe factory and bakery in the county.

The group was recognized recently during the Governor's Hometown Awards program, which honors volunteer contributions for economic development.

The organization played a big role in attracting the state's super-maximum-security prison to Tamms in Southern Illinois, and is currently involved in a move to attract a Tyson Chicken processing plant to Cairo.

"We have involved a lot of people in the organization," said Jerry Reppert, president of the Union County Economic Development Corp. "It developed quickly into a multi-county effort."

The Southernmost Illinois Prison Committee and the Southernmost Illinois Development Committee (SIDC) are part of the UCEDC.

The Union County group has also worked to keep a trailer manufacturer in the Union County area. More than 200 jobs would have been lost if Transcraft Corp. had left its Anna location.

Transcraft Corp., a manufacturer of flatbed, transport trailers, will expand its operation to Kentucky, where it will employ 100 people. But it will maintain its Anna operation, where 200 are employed.

The dollar amount of Small Business Administration loans for Eastern Missouri rose 26 percent for the first half of fiscal year 1994, which ended March 31.

For the period from October of 1993 to the end of March, SBA's St. Louis office approved 115 loans totaling nearly $55.5 million, which resulted in the creation of an estimated 1,452 new jobs.

More than 100 of the loans were for businesses in St. Louis County and city, totaling $25.7 million.

Among banks participating in the loans were Boatmen's, Mercantile, and Commerce, all headquartered in St. Louis.

Business expansions

Delta Express, Nash Road, an over-the-road trucking company, is expanding.

The firm, owned by Robert and Judith Rollins, will be in new quarters this fall.

"We hope to be in a new buildings by September," said Robert Rollins.

The company is building along the outer road alongside Interstate 55, in the Nash Road area.

"We'll have a 60-by-45-foot building with three bays, and a maintenance shop building about 75-by-100 feet," said Rollins.

Delta Express, founded more than a year ago, utilizes 18 tractors and 20 trailers and hauls a number of items, including temperature control products such as fresh fruits and vegetables from the Midwest to the East and West coasts.

Ye Ole House, a collectibles and gift shop, has added Missouri wines to its inventory.

"We have dry wines and sweet wines," said Laura Younghouse, president of Midwest Energy, which operates the business at 120 Broadway.

Included on the wine lists are products from Stonehill Winery and Hermannhof Winery, both of Hermann; St. James Winery and Ste. Genevieve Winery.

"We'll also be offering special wine and gourmet food baskets," said Younghouse.

The business will offer special "sampling" on occasion, with the first sampling session scheduled from 1 to 5 p.m. July 2.

Spartech Corp., which has two operations in Cape Girardeau -- Atlas-Alchem, a rigid sheet facility, and Resin Exchange, a merchant compounding operation -- has approved a search for a new Spartech Plastics' rigid sheet and rollstock facility in the Midwest.

Spartech currently has eight rigid sheet production facilities, with an annual production capacity of 275 million pounds.

"Growth in volume in our Spartech Plastics unit is averaging 15 percent a year," said Bradley B. Buechler, president and chief executive officer.

Buechler said sites in Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri are presently being considered.

How about giving Cape Girardeau serious consideration, Mr. Buechler? We could use three Spartech facilities here.

The Downtown Farmers Market opened last weekend at the Downtown Pavilion, located on the South Main parking lot across from Hutson's Furniture.

The market will be open each Friday and Saturday until fall.

There is no setup fee. Area farmers are welcome to sell their home-grown produce.

Boat notes:

METROPOLIS, Ill. - Players Riverboat Casino's Merv Griffin Theater opens this month.

The "Hitmakers," a musical review produced by Opryland Productions Group, will appear in the 350-seat theater at Merv Griffin's Landing on the bank of the Mississippi River, beginning June 28. Showtimes are 3:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday.

The Hitmakers feature music from "down-home country" to rock 'n' roll.

Scheduled to appear at the theater next month -- July 5 through 30 -- is comedian Lonnie Shorr. Details are available by calling 1-800-938-0079.

"We're excited and optimistic about the opening of the new theater," said Ed Fishman, chairman and CEO of Players International Inc.

The theater is located adjacent to the 120-room Players Riverboat Hotel, which opened earlier this year.