AIRPORT RESTAURANT CLOSES UNTIL RENOVATION FINISHED

The Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport restaurant closed this week after three decades of operation.

But Airport Manager Mark Seesing said the city plans to reopen the facility under new management after an airport terminal building renovation project is completed some time next year.

Seesing said the restaurant's owners, Joyce and J.D. Treadwell, have wanted to close the restaurant for several months. The Treadwells have operated it under a lease agreement with the city since March 1985.

Joyce Treadwell said she and her husband sold the restaurant to the city earlier this year.

"We sold it to the city back in January or February when they thought that they were going to remodel the terminal building," she said. "Then the city asked us to stay until they started to remodel it or Sept. 1, whichever came first.

"We just decided to get out of it. We didn't really want to come back when it was reopened after the renovation."

Seesing said the city won't seek a tenant for the restaurant until after the terminal building renovation project, slated to begin this fall, is completed.

The airport manager said he didn't think it would be fair to another tenant to operate the restaurant for only a few months, then have to close it down for the renovation work.

The Treadwells have operated the restaurant, situated on the south side of the terminal building, since March 1985. The business first opened shortly after the terminal building was dedicated in 1960.

Seesing said he doesn't think the hiatus will cause significant problems at the airport.

"There have been some slack periods before when new owners came in, although this is the first time it's ever been closed down," he said. "But we're going to reopen the restaurant under new owners as soon as we get the renovation project done."

Seesing and Treadwell both said the terminal building's renovation should help the restaurant's chance for success.

"I think if they remodeled, it really would have a chance for more business," said Treadwell. "It should really help to get people from the community out to the airport."

Seesing said the facility will be expanded and the kitchen area will be moved to allow customers to better view the airport ramps and runways.

"There's also going to be a lounge there so people can have a cocktail with their meal," he said. "It's going to be more energy efficient and esthetically appealing and a lot easier to work with."

Seesing said he expects the city to have final renovation design plans and bid specifications completed next week. "I'm hoping to be under construction by the end of the year," he said. "And, I would think we could be done by mid-summer."

Seesing also said he thought the renovated terminal building would boost business for the restaurant.

"I think it can work," he said. "I'd like to see someone develop it as a good place for people from town to come down there and have a nice meal at the airport.

"We're trying to get that type of atmosphere, so that it wouldn't just be for people using the airport, but for the whole community."