$4 MILLION IN GRANTS HELP FIX UP CITY

The city of Cape Girardeau received $4.1 million in community development grant money from federal and state agencies over a five-period ending in 1995.

The money was spent to fix up houses and rental units on the city's south side, address flood problems, relocate a business in conjunction with construction of new Highway 74, extend utilities to two commercial sites and build a recreation trail.

"That is a lot of money that has been invested in the community in various projects," said Keith Russell, who co-chairs the Quality of Life Committee of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.

The committee looked at community development grants in its Quality of Life report on Cape Girardeau. The just-released report provides a statistical picture of the community.

Some of the grant projects, such as the flood buyout, have yet to be completed, said City Planner Kent Bratton.

The biggest funding year was 1994 when the city received just over $2 million. Most of that was in the form of federal grants from the Economic Development Administration.

The money was used to raise South Sprigg and LaCruz streets to prevent future flooding on the roads.

Mississippi River flooding in the past covered parts of the two roads on the city's south side, including the section of LaCruz Street near the city's sewer treatment plant. Also included in the EDA projects was the installation of emergency generators to run flood pumps inside the treatment plant.

Bratton said the city is still working to complete a $729,000 EDA project for improvements to the water-intake system at the city's Cape Rock water plant.

None of these improvements would have occurred without the state and federal grants, Bratton said.

Much of the funding came from the Community Development Block Grant Program.

From 1982 to 1996, the city received $5.1 million in various block grants through the program.

With some of the money, the city fixed up 148 houses, paved and installed curb and gutters on two miles of streets and made sewer improvements, officials said.

Another improvement was the demolition of 30 houses that had been damaged by the Mississippi River flood of 1993. A $105,000 block grant financed the project.