BUILDING PROJECT GETS A BOOST

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The Cape Girardeau Senior Nutrition Center this week kicked off a building campaign for a new nutrition center building.

Approval last week of the building fund as a Neighborhood Assistance Project prompted the organizers to move ahead with the plan for a new building, said Russel Faust, president of the Cape Girardeau Council on Aging, which operates the nutrition center.

This fundraising effort is separate from the proposed tax hike that voters will decide on the April 2 ballot.

The Cape Girardeau Council on Aging plans to purchase of a 4.74-acre lot situated on Clark Street, south of Foeste's Nursery, said Faust. The sale should be final later this week, he said.

"There we hope to construct a new nutrition center," Faust said. "When we can get that done depends on how successful we are in convincing people to contribute."

This week, he said, members of the Cape Girardeau Council on Aging will begin fundraising through the Neighborhood Assistance Program, which provides a state income tax credit equal to 50 percent of the amount a business contributes to local projects.

The group has two years to raise $345,000 through the Neighborhood Assistance Project, Faust said. "We think that will be enough (money) to build the building."

The Cape Girardeau Senior Nutrition Building Fund received its first contribution Tuesday, $5,000 from Capital Bank.

Faust said most donations through the Neighborhood Assistance Project will be cash. But donations of services or supplies can also be accepted for the tax credit. He said several businesses and labor unions have made pledges also.

He said plans for the actual building are still in preliminary stages.

"We have some rough sketches that we are ready to take to the architects and engineers," Faust said. Preliminary ideas call for a building 60 feet by 120 feet.

"This is a neighborhood assistance program," he said. "Business can leave a part of their income tax right here in the neighborhood instead of sending it to Jefferson City to be used to build something in Kansas City or Springfield. We can try to build something at home."

Faust said every business, from large manufacturing firms to door-to-door salesmen, qualifies for the tax credit.

"The tax credit is all based on a percentage of the Missouri income tax or bank tax a business pays," he said.

The Neighborhood Assistance Program is coordinated through the state Department of Economic Development.