Arts school set for construction

In February, Southeast Missouri State University plans to start demolition work at the old St. Vincent's Seminary, clearing the way for construction to begin on its new River Campus arts school seven years after plans to build it were first announced.

"Everybody is very anxious to get this under construction," said Al Stoverink, facilities management director at Southeast.

Along the way, the project was beset by both state funding problems and repeated litigation by businessman Jim Drury over the city's financial involvement in the project. An out-of-court settlement between the Cape Girardeau City Council and Drury last December cleared the way for the project to proceed.

School officials say the more than $40 million project soon will be more than just dinner conversation. Construction should begin next spring on the Terrace Park walking trail, which overlooks the Mississippi River.

Development of the park and a state-affiliated welcome center are included in the arts school project.

Southeast plans to raze the old seminary gymnasium, a maintenance shed, a swimming pool and tennis courts to clear the way for new construction.

"By late spring, all the construction contracts should be initiated," Stoverink said.

Renovations to the historic brick building that housed the former Catholic seminary and new construction should be proceeding at full speed by summer, school officials said.

The entire project, from demolition to completion of new construction, could take up to 30 months and involve as many as 30 construction contracts, Stoverink said.

Stoverink said breaking up the project into separate construction jobs will make it easier for local contractors to bid on the work.

The university plans to occupy its new River Campus, including a new performance hall and museum, by summer 2007. But Stoverink said it's possible that the renovated seminary building, a section of which dates back to 1843, could open by the end of 2006.

Whatever the completion date, the River Campus project is expected to cost more than $40 million, Stoverink said. "We think we have it down to about as tight a design as we can get," he said.

The project is being funded with state money, private donations, federal grants and Cape Girardeau motel and restaurant tax dollars.

The state already has appropriated $4.6 million for the arts school project. Southeast is seeking another $17 million in state funding in the coming legislative session, university officials said.

Counting the money already appropriated, Southeast wants the state to spend $21.6 million on the project, or $5 million more than originally requested.

Stoverink said the added money is needed because of increases in building costs that have occurred since planning first began on the project.

The city is contributing $8.9 million to the project from motel and restaurant taxes. Another $10 million is coming from private contributions made to the university foundation. Those totals don't include federal funding for development of Terrace Park and the welcome center, which combined total about $1.2 million.

Campus construction

The River Campus project will involve more than 141,000 square feet of improvements, including about 90,000 square feet of new construction on the 16-acre site, school officials said.

The new construction -- west and south of the existing seminary building -- will include a 35,000-square-foot, 950-seat performance hall, a 14,000-square-foot museum, a smaller theater that includes roll-out seating and can hold up to 204 people, and a dance studio. The new construction also includes a music rehearsal room, several art studios and a state-affiliated welcome center.

The exterior finish is still being finalized, but it will feature brick, metal and a stucco-like material, said Lisa Howe, facilities management project manager at Southeast.

The 5,000-square-foot welcome center -- expected to cost nearly $1 million and be paid for with federal grant money -- will be built adjacent to the new performance hall and the regional history and art museum. The welcome center, performance hall and the museum will share a lobby. Cape Girardeau's Convention and Visitors Bureau will be housed in the welcome center under a lease arrangement.

The L-shaped seminary building will be gutted and converted into faculty offices, classrooms and computer labs, Stoverink said. The building's former chapel will be turned into a recital hall.

Terrace Park, which will be built on the east side of the old seminary grounds, is being funded with a $260,000 federal grant. The university is paying the remaining $65,000 of the $325,000 project.

The project includes construction of a prefabricated, open-roof pavilion, a small parking lot off Aquamsi Street and an asphalt walking trail that will take visitors to and around the championship beech tree on the grounds.

The trail will be 8 feet wide except near Morgan Oak Street where it will be 6 feet wide, officials said.

"This will be more of a leisure trail," Stoverink said.

It will include interpretative signs to inform visitors about local history, including information about the seminary site as well as the recently razed Mississippi River bridge and the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge.

The entrance to the trail from Morgan Oak Street will be near the old Mississippi River bridge archway that is being preserved as a city landmark. The city government is preserving the bridge entrance. University officials said just how the trail and the bridge monument will be linked has yet to be worked out.

Construction of the trail is expected to take about three months once work begins next spring. Once finished, it will provide a good observation spot for area residents who want to watch the renovation of the seminary building as well as the new building construction, Stoverink said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123