A.C. BRASE BUILDING TO BE RENOVATED

A three-year, $230,000 renovation of the A.C. Brase Arena Building is slated to begin sometime early this year.

It will be the first major overhaul of the 59-year-old structure since the mid-1980s.

"When you've got a building that old, it takes constant maintenance to keep it going," said Dan Muser, director of the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department. "Plus, it continuously gets a lot of use. That amounts to a lot of wear and tear."

Muser said minor improvement projects are almost constantly being done at the building.

The renovation, which is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2001, calls for remodeling the restrooms, foyers, dining room, kitchen, lobby, main office, marquee sign and guardrails.

A new sound system, curtains, drop ceiling, kitchen equipment and a walk-in freezer will be installed. New tables and chairs will also be purchased.

The building will remain in use during the renovation. Work will be scheduled around events at the facility.

The improvements will be funded through the A.C. Brase Foundation.

The foundation will ask the Cape Girardeau City Council to issue bonds to fund the work. The council is expected to consider the plan in the next couple months.

If approved, the bonds will be retired through foundation revenue raised from user fees paid by groups that hold events at the facility.

Muser said the foundation usually accumulates funds and then does whatever projects it has the cash on hand to afford. However, many of the items called for under the renovation are tied together and couldn't be spread out beyond the three-year project timeline, he said.

"It's not something we will be able to jump in and do all at once," Muser said.

Jim Limbaugh, president of the A.C. Brase Foundation, said the building is still in high demand.

"This is a niche facility," Limbaugh said. "In order to maintain its viability, it has to undergo changes. All in all, it's still in great shape."

The Arena Building, along the Osage Community Centre, the Show Me Center and the Holiday Inn Convention Center, provides the community with a well-rounded array of facilities for special events, Limbaugh said.

The first event at the Arena Building was Jan. 22, 1940, when it played host to a Golden Glove boxing tournament. The official building dedication came four months later.

Over the nearly six decades, a variety of events have been held there, including numerous concerts, plays, exhibits, conventions and banquets.

Countless community groups have staged events there, and for decades it was used as a community recreation facility.

It was also once the primary sports arena in the city.

The St. Louis Browns baseball team held spring training there in 1945, and basketball teams from Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Central High School and the now-defunct University High School all at times played their home schedules there.

The City Council renamed it the A.C. Brase Arena Building in 1987 for A.C. "Doc" Brase.

Brase, who died in 1985, founded the Arena Improvement Committee in 1948. For decades the committee raised funds for myriad facility improvements.