AIRPORT RESTAURANT MAY BECOME ACTIVE AGAIN

Cape Girardeau Regional Airport officials are negotiating a lease for operation of the airport restaurant.

The Airport Advisory Board authorized Bruce Loy, airport manager, to begin negotiating a lease with a restaurant operator.

Loy said the candidate, whose name is not being released yet, "would lease the restaurant outright, without us having to do it ourselves or hire a manager or anything like that."

If negotiations go well, Loy hopes to have the lease agreement to the City Council by the Oct. 19 meeting.

"If I can get there before then, I will," he said.

Board members had to go into closed session to review two lease proposals for operating the restaurant, which now stands closed.

J. Fred Waltz, chairman of the advisory board, said members would prefer an outside party manage the restaurant.

"If there was a lessee that was acceptable, that would be our number one choice," Waltz said.

Earlier this year, members of the City Council indicated they would be agreeable to the city operating the restaurant through a full-time, city-employed manager.

The advisory board has been working for the last few months to come up with a recommendation on how best to do that.

For several months, no one expressed any interest in leasing the restaurant, Waltz said. But recent news about the city's interest in re-opening the restaurant prompted inquiries, he said.

And that's just fine with Waltz and the other board members.

"Our desire to have the city operate the restaurant was merely because we didn't think we could find an interested lessee," Waltz said.

Restaurants haven't had much luck at the airport. Three private operations were unsuccessful, as were the city's attempts to run the restaurant.

Board members have been trying to decide whether to recommend the city manage the restaurant itself or lease the facility to a third-party.

Both options have advantages, board members say. If the city runs the restaurant, the city will have more control over operations.

But a lessee would probably have more experience at restaurant operations and wouldn't require as great an investment on the city's part for renovations or upgrades of the restaurant area.

There is some disagreement among board members as to how successful a restaurant will be at the airport.

But Waltz says a restaurant will provide a needed service to pilots and passengers and will help increase traffic at the airport.