BUILDING ON QUALITY OF LIFE IN PERRYVILLE

PERRYVILLE -- An artist's renderings of the planned Perry County Multipurpose Center make it look like a slice of heaven.

Children sit quietly, reading books in a state-of-the-art library. Music lovers intently watch a piano recital. Bikini-clad women stroll around the enclosed swimming pool while young men play basketball in a bright, airy gymnasium.

Only 52 percent of Perry County voters saw the future depicted in the drawings and passed a half-cent sales tax to buy that future.

The further voters lived from Perryville -- where the center will be built -- the more likely they were to vote against the tax. Those in Frohna, Altenburg and Uniontown were the most opposed.

Today, almost two weeks after the vote, Perry County and Perryville city officials are moving ahead with the work. In time, they hope, people will wonder why they ever voted against financing the center.

"I think a lot of it was a matter of convenience," Presiding County Commissioner Karl Klaus said. "Some towns are more than 20 miles from Perryville, and people who live there felt they wouldn't use the center."

Klaus said he wants all Perry County residents to take advantage of the facility once it is built, and he believes they will. During nice weather, 30 to 40 people walk on the new Perryville High School track each evening. Even more may want to walk in a climate-controlled environment or use the planned weight room.

But first things first. City and county officials will meet soon to work out the details of a lease-purchase agreement to finance the $9.5 million structure. They will appoint a building commission that will own the facility and lease it back to the county, with the county responsible for operating and maintaining the center.

In 20 years or less, when the lease-purchase agreement is met, three-eighths of the sales tax will end. The remaining one-eighth cent will continue to pay for operations and maintenance.

This plan will keep user fees reasonable, Perryville City Administrator Craig Lindsley said.

By passing the sales tax issue, voters didn't make their towns' businesses less competitive than surrounding cities and counties. When the county starts collecting the new tax in April, the sales tax rate in Perryville will be 6.725 cents, the same as it will be in Cape Girardeau.

User fees also will be kept low because of cost-cutting on the project's front end, Lindsley said. By putting the center in Perryville City Park, contractors can build around an existing swimming pool instead of digging a new one. The land was free, and one-third of the needed parking already was established.

Some Perryville area residents can't wait until March 1999, the project's scheduled completion date. Dorothy Tisher said she will appreciate having a nice volleyball court. When she played co-ed volleyball in a community building, Tisher noticed everyone had trouble not hitting the ceiling.

Kathy Huber said she may not get much use out of the center, but younger people will.

"If it's going to get the kids off the street and get them involved in an activity, I'm in favor of it," she said.

Lindsley said the center should attract people who want to work at the multitude of available jobs in the county. A 1994 study showed those who work in Perry County but don't live there wouldn't move because of a lack of activity.

"They were concerned about the quality-of-life issue," Lindsley said. "This will help address that."

Timeline for the Perry County Multipurpose Center

Jan. 1995: The idea for the Perry County Multipurpose Center is proposed.

Feb. 1995: A 35-member committee is appointed to research the idea.

April 1995: A countywide telephone survey is conducted to see if Perry County residents want the center. The results are positive.

Jan. 1996: The city of Perryville budgets $20,000 for a feasibility study.

July 1996: The feasibility study is completed.

Aug. 1996: County commissioners agree to put a half-cent sales tax for the center on the Nov. 5 general election ballot.

Nov. 1996: Voters narrowly pass the sales tax.

Dec. 1996: The city of Perryville and Perry County formalize an agreement to finance the center and appoint a building commission.

April 1997: Collection of the new sales tax begins.

April-May 1997: Plans for the center are completed.

Mid-Summer 1997: Bids are collected.

Sept. 1997: Construction begins.

March 1999: The center is completed.