Walden Park condos near completion

There's a lot on my desk this week, folks, so let's get right to it:n Walden Park nearly ready to lease: The first phase of Walden Park, a development of 125 single family homes and 195 condominiums being constructed by RiverWest Partners off Route W, will be completed soon with townhouses that will be available for leasing, developer Gerry Jones said.

The concept of Walden Park, which will be built over the next seven to 10 years, is to focus a community around common areas, such as a clubhouse, swimming pool and fishing ponds, rather than just layout streets and cul-de-sacs, Jones said.

Each condominium building will have 10 units each in a building of approximately 17,000 square feet, Jones said. Each will have a garage and a front door opening to the street.

Most of the units and houses will be 1,500 to 2,200 square feet, with high-end amenities such as granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, Jones said. "We are trying to do everything in a first-class manner. We think it is going to be the finest community in the county. We're doing everything on the philosophy that less is more. We are not building McMansions."

Empty-nesters and young professionals, with or without families, will be the target clientele for the new development, Jones said.

The price range for the condominiums and homes will be $125,000 to more than $500,000, according to the RiverWest Partners Web site, www.riverwestpartners.com.

Initial rents for the leased units now being readied will be $800 to $1,000 a month, Jones said.

• Business Expo: A day of seminars on marketing, advertising and finance for small business will take place Thursday at the Drury Lodge on William Street at Interstate 55.

Sam Silverstein -- author, entrepreneur and motivational speaker -- will be headline the morning session, and the lunch session will honor Rhodes 101 Stops, which has grown from a single convenience store to 29 locations since 1979.

Sponsored by the Tri-State Advertising and Marketing Professionals organization, also known as Tri-State AMP, the expo will also have exhibitor booths with professionals seeking to serve small businesses.

To sign up, call Jaime Craig at 573-450-1474.

• Name change: Cape Art Mart in Town Plaza has changed its name to Cape Art, Dolls & Toys to better reflect the store's focus and products, Nancy and Jary Reppen announced last week. Since opening in 1979 as an art supply dealer, the Reppens have added custom framing, hobby products, toys and a Lee Middleton Doll Newborn Nursery.

The Reppens will celebrate the name change Saturday with an open house.

• Medal of Honor: Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau was among 392 hospitals receiving the 2007 Department of Health and Human Services Medal of Honor for obtaining organ donations from 75 percent or more of the people approached during a 12 month period.

The hospital was one of 11 honored along with Mid-America Transplant Services, a St. Louis-based transplant network.

Saint Francis also received a special crystal award for being a three-time winner of the award.

There are 1,287 people on waiting lists for transplants in the Mid-America Transplant Services coverage area. There were 421 transplants in the region in 2006, up from 315 in 2004.

• Closed sidewalk: For the past couple of weeks, the sidewalk under the Esquire Theater, 824 Broadway, has been blocked by barricades. I finally reached owner Phil Brinson, who was out of town on vacation, and he told me that a truck hit the marquee and caused some superficial damage.

The barricades were put in place as a precaution by his contractor, Brinson said.

The truck that hit the marquee did not stop and no report was made to police, Brinson said.

"Whoever hit it did not stop and take responsibility for it," he said. "I am trying to deal with insurance issues."

The marquee, which is held up by steel beams, is structurally sound, Brinson said. The contractor who installed the barricades was acting cautiously to prevent injury in case a storm or wind caused a loose piece of the facade to fall, he said.

As far as plans for restoring the theater -- which opened in 1947, closed in the 1980s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places -- Brinson said he's been working on some ideas "but nothing I am ready to talk about."

n License revoked: Jeremiah's, the restaurant and nightclub at 127 Water St., will lose its liquor license Nov. 9, according to the state Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control's Web site.

The notice says the revocation is the result of "unlawful consumption by a minor and improper acts." I found the notice as I was working on Saturday and tried to call Jeremiah's, but no one answered. According to the Missouri Code of State Regulations, improper acts include failure to stop fighting or brawls, illegal conduct or allowing indecent or obscene entertainment.

That's pretty broad. I'll follow up on this, so check back at the Rude Awakenings blog at www.semissourian.com or look for an item in the Southeast Missourian later this week.

The revocation will take place unless Jeremiah's, which is a DBA name for a corporation called McGroarty's Inc. with president Donald Ganim, files an appeal and is granted a stay in the revocation until the appeal can be heard.

n Energy conservation: AmerenUE will hold a meeting in Cape Girardeau from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Osage Community Centre, 1625 N. Kingshighway, one of three around the state, to discuss its proposals for energy conservation and energy management proposals.

Ameren has committed to spending $13 million in 2008 and 2009, an $20 million annually beginning in 2010, on more than a dozen proposed energy efficiency and demand-response initiatives.

The proposals include partnerships with local agencies that provide help to low income people so they can replace old appliances with new, energy efficient models and to change from incandescent to compact fluorescent bulbs.

For commercial customers, the proposal includes a package of energy efficiency incentives designed to pay for themselves with reduced costs.

"We expect these programs to help customers save money, while reducing the peak demand for electricity and allowing us to defer the need to build new generation [plants] in the near future," says AmerenUE president and chief executive officer Thomas R. Voss.

According to the news release, "These programs are aimed at helping low-income individuals and families, tenants, building owners, contractors, developers, manufacturers, and ordinary citizens who want to weatherize their homes, improve air conditioning and heating systems or build highly energy efficient homes."

n Florist goes online: Toni's Flower House, 41 S. Sprigg St., has added a Web site for customers to browse arrangements and make purchases. You can visit the new site at www.myfsn.com/tonisflowerhouse.

• Angus alert: Birk Angus Ranch in Jackson is now the fifth largest Angus beef ranch in Missouri, recording 371 head with the American Angus Association during 2007. The announcement was made last week by John Crouch, executive vice-president of the American Angus Association.
• Communication partnership: Big River Telephone will collaborate with Great Lakes Data Systems to streamline Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) billing for Eagle Communications Inc., a Kansas-based broadband services company that operates 23 radio stations in Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri as well as cable television in Kansas and Colorado.

Big River, a Cape Girardeau supplier of full-service telecommunications services, handles the telephone aspects of Eagle Communications business. The new arrangement will present customers with an integrated bill and online information about their calls.

Rudi Keller is the business editor of the Southeast Missourian. Contact him at 335-6611, extension 126