After a year, Independence Street work to be completed this week

A little more than a year after it began, the road project to rebuild Independence Street will be finished this week, city engineer Kelly Green told the Cape Girardeau City Council on Monday night.

The work, which included replacing the roadway and sidewalks from Pacific Street to Kingshighway, will not be entirely complete -- two side streets still need some intersection work -- but motorists will be able to travel the entire length without detours, she said.

And over the next three to four months, another section of Independence, from Sprigg Street to Water Street, will get a facelift as crews from Fronabarger Concreters begin work replacing nearly a half-mile of curbs and sidewalks while laying down a new layer of asphalt, Green said. The council approved a $322,738 contract for the work, almost $90,000 less than the city estimated.

Green's report was part of a general update of city public works projects that included storm-water, roads and parks projects. All are funded with dedicated sales taxes.

On the parks front, department director Dan Muser assured council members that repairs and new construction at the Arena Building will be completed in time for the SEMO District Fair in September.

In other business, the council approved a host cities contract with the Tour of Missouri on Sept. 8, which will include Cape Girardeau as the finish line of a road race of more than 100 miles. Tracey Glenn, vice president of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce and chairwoman of the Local Organizing Committee, told council members during their work session that the detailed route map will be announced July 29.

The local organizing committee must raise $50,000 to $75,000 to meet the requirements of the contract. So far, Saint Francis Medical Center and Southeast Missouri Hospital have each pledged or donated $20,000. To help make up the difference, the council also heard a pitch from chamber president and CEO John Mehner and Convention and Visitors Bureau director Chuck Martin to add as much as $20,000 from a trust fund holding unspent money from the city hotel and restaurant tax.

The CVB wants to contribute at least $10,000 to gain the advertising benefits of participating as a sponsor, Martin and Mehner said.

The sponsorship proposal was part of a $145,000 request for permission to produce new city promotional materials, match grants for a billboard campaign and offer up to $68,000 as a matching grant for operations at the Discovery Playhouse children's museum at 502 Broadway. The building housing the museum is being renovated and needs money to begin operations, Mehner and Martin told the council.

Supporters of the Discovery Playhouse must also raise $68,000, Martin said. The council will see the spending proposal on its formal agenda Aug. 3.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

401 Independence Street, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

502 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.