AMERENUE GRANT PROVIDES TREES

The Cape Girardeau School District's new elementary school will be surrounded by beauty and several energy savers thanks to a grant awarded by AmerenUE.

AmerenUE's GreenLeaf program was started by Union Electric in 1989 to provide grants for planting trees, gardens and other foliage that offers energy savings and beautifies an area. Cape Girardeau schools were awarded a $7,727 grant to plant some 160 trees to provide shade and beauty at the elementary school to be built on North Sprigg Street. Construction of the building is expected to begin shortly and should be completed in two years.

The school district was one of 10 not-for-profit organizations in the state to receive landscaping grants this year and the only one in Southeast Missouri. The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department received a $6,065 GreenLeaf grant in 1997 to plant energy-saving 139 canopy trees and other foliage of various species at Osage and Shawnee Parks.

Harry Bertrand, landscaping and horticulture instructor at Cape Girardeau Area Vocational-Technical School, said the school district will plant trees, shrubs and plants to provide wind breaks north of the school building and shade in southern and western areas of the building. Trees such as the autumn purple white ash will be planted to provide shade, complement natural white ash growing in the school's vicinity, and provide "excellent burgundy fall color" to the area, he said.

The planning and development of the grant-winning conceptual landscape drawing was submitted by Central High School senior Bryan Welker, who also is a second-year landscaping and horticulture student at the vo-tech school. Welker said he was pleased that his drawing could benefit the school district.

"I think it's pretty nice that I got the opportunity to design the landscaping and that this is going to help the school be more energy-efficient," he said.