ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL GOING TO CIVIC CENTER

Plagued with financial trouble, the Cape Civic Center will welcome an alternative school with open arms and open palms.

The Alternative Education Center, part of Cape Girardeau public schools, will move from the Salvation Army building at Good Hope and Sprigg to the Civic Center building on Broadway.

Students at the school have trouble learning in traditional environments. At AEC, they receive one-on-one help until they graduate or return to regular high-school classes.

The Civic Center and AEC are a good match, Superintendent Dan Tallent said. The AEC is funded for 80 students next year. Rooms at the Salvation Army already are cramped with only 30 students, but there should be plenty of room at the Civic Center.

When the AEC moves in, it will bring $8,500 in grants along with it. The school system also will pay most of the utilities.

Both the students and the money will be welcome sights. The center, disorganized and desperate for funds, practically ceased operations in May when the United Way pulled half its $35,000 annual allotment.

Nancy Jernigan, United Way executive director, said the center board failed to file the proper financial documents to qualify for full funding. The unused $17,500 went into a United Way reserve fund for crisis situations.

With their group's reputation in question, the center's board of directors decided to begin again. KFVS general manager Howard Meagle took over fund-raising duties, and a mostly new, 15-member board of directors was elected.

They conducted their first meeting Wednesday night. Tallent, who is the center's vice president, discussed the AEC's upcoming move.

Lloyd Williams, board member and interim center director, said he remembered the role Cape Civic Center played in his life.

"Its heyday was in the mid-1970s," he said. "It was a place full of activities. Kids had weekend dances. They came here for summer work. The railroad came down and interviewed people for job openings."

The center will return to those days in time, he said.

John Jenkins, new board president, said he too visited the center as a young man. Now he wants the building to have the same role in other youths' lives as it had in his.

"We want to bring back structure and credibility to the Civic Center," he said. "We want to fill the needs of the kids."

The alternative school should be moved in by Jan. 21, Tallent said. First, there is lots of renovating to be done: Some walls need to be built and the heating system must be made more efficient.

Board members hope the community will donate some of the needed items, including paint, tiles, doors and energy-efficient windows.

Jernigan said the Civic Center might have a chance to get some United Way funding in 1997. Although the application window for full funding is closed, the United Way may offer one-time grants this year. One such grant is keeping the utilities paid at the center now.

"Our board has a soft spot for the Civic Center," Jernigan said. "You never know what might happen with it."

Other Cape Civic Center board members are Jeff Unterreiner, Marie Walker, Henry Azuma, Marvin McBride, Dave Pearce, Ed Slaughter, Harold Webb, Tamara Zellars Buck, Mike Heston and Don Sherwood.