Building will be heart of today's celebration

Jon K. Rust

If you venture downtown today for the Southeast Missourian's centennial block party -- and I highly encourage you to do so -- there will be no mistaking the belle of the ball. She's the Missourian building. And even though she celebrated her 80th birthday on Sept. 11, she's never looked better.

New paint -- in the original hues -- colors the windows and archways. The stucco is repaired. The flower boxes are filled again with mums. And, most exciting, the original door to the building has been restored along with three bay windows that originally looked onto Broadway. This restoration demanded unique craftsmanship, which has been ably handled by local artisans.

As befits a grand celebration, the building today is also adorned with flags and patriotic bunting, the kind of display Cape Girardeau hasn't seen in decades. While the Missourian building won't be open for tours today, our production plant at 500 William St. with its new press will be. There, if you time it right, you can see newspapers flying off the press at 35,000 copies an hour.

The party starts at 10 a.m. and continues until 4 p.m. There's no charge and plenty of food and drink. Hot dogs, ice cream, popcorn and more will be sold for 25 cents with all proceeds benefiting the United Way of Southeast Missouri. Many restaurants in the area are offering steep discounts. There will be games for the family, music and entertainment galore.

And at the heart of the activity will be the Missourian building. Named earlier this year to the National Register of Historic Places, the building was unveiled to great fanfare in 1925. The Naeter family, which built it, explained their intentions this way: "To add in a large way beauty and dignity to one's town is to express affection for the community and confidence in its future. To build a plain, substantial workshop is one thing. Building a monumental structure with beauty superseding utilitarian principles is quite another. The spiritual quality of beauty in architecture, beauty that poises itself, that is a visible aspiration, is so pervasive, so imperishable that it gives a veritable soul to the structure."

Monumental, indeed! The Missourian building has won awards across the nation for its architectural design, including being named by Presstime magazine as one of the 20th century's top 10 newspaper buildings. Here is how renowned architect Tom P. Barnett described his creation: "The finest newspaper home to be found in a city of its size in the entire United States shall be my masterpiece É a two-story framework with reinforced concrete and brick walls, the roof of vari-colored Spanish tiles, stucco exterior walls with a Moravian glazed tile base that runs along the Broadway and Lorimier Street walls. The faade: Massive doors and arched windows stained a deep, dark red with ornamental Spanish balconies above."

The building helped launch a construction frenzy in Cape Girardeau marked by Spanish Colonial Revival style, including the Marquette Hotel, the Hecht's store, the Surety Insurance Building, the B'Nai Israel Synagogue and Lueders Studio, distinguishing Cape Girardeau among other Midwest towns its size. The building also stands as historic reference to the Spanish political heritage of the territory under Spanish Commandant Louis Lorimier, who once owned the land upon which the Missourian building was erected.

To rehabilitate the building is no small task, and only phase one of a three-phase project is completed, which is why the structure will not be open for tours today. Much of the interior remains under construction with a target completion date of early 2006. Without tax credits from state and federal government, the project would not be undertaken in so comprehensive a fashion.

Leading the project and due immense thanks from those who work at the Missourian is Mark Kneer, who is internal coordinator of the million-dollar-plus project while also serving as circulation director for this newspaper and consultant to 50 others. Working alongside him is Gary Rust II, who initiated discussions about the project and oversees some of the interior design.

The general contractor is Penzel Construction Co. of Jackson, with project managers Phil Penzel and Glen Hinkebein. David Mirgeaux is the on-site superintendent. The job has not been without surprises, as is customary for any construction project so large, including hidden asbestos and bizarre, archaic electrical wiring. But Penzel has been professional in solving all problems and smoothing over any unexpected challenges.

Kiku Obata of St. Louis is the architectural firm. Kevin Flynn and Dennis Hyland studied the newspaper's history to create a design that works inside and out and which properly honors the heritage of the space while creating a contemporary and more efficient work environment.

Subcontractors include Cotner Electric with on-site supervisor Fred Naeter, great-nephew of the Missourian's founding family. Other local subcontractors include Drury Co., MacDonald Co., Doing Steel, Cape Paint & Glass, Pella Windows & Doors of Cape Girardeau, Midwest Painting, DRW Specialty Suppliers, Alpha Systems, Harrison Fire Protection, Pro-Alarm, Technology & Networking, B.W. Birk, Acorn Enterprises, Eakins Woodworks, Kenco/Foeste Masonry and Langford Mechanical & Sheet Metal.

Replicating the painted tiles on the faade of the building was the work of Toni Arnold, Lacey Neal and her mother, Diane, from Creative Ewe Pottery. The detailed craftsmanship on the bay windows was handled by Gary Bunting of Knock on Wood. The furniture will be from Rust & Martin with designer Terry McDowell also assisting on outdoor decorations and individual points of interior design.

Historic preservation consultant Terri Foley was not only a key member of the historic designation application team along with Dr. Steven Hoffman and his students at Southeast Missouri State University, but she also coordinated today's block party along with Gary Rust II. Terri, tomorrow you can rest!

Beyond the above, there are many others who have been involved in this massive project, not least being individual newspaper employees, who have put up with months of dust, noise and odors -- and many days of no air conditioning -- while maintaining and growing an ongoing business. To them, I say, we're halfway there! Thanks, sincerely.

Founders Fred and George Naeter built the Missourian's home inspired by confidence and affection. That same sentiment infuses the philosophy of the project today: To create a dynamic environment for Southeast Missourian employees, while enhancing an architectural jewel for the community. We hope you will join us today to gaze anew upon this remarkable structure, and to celebrate with us 100 years of a newspaper dedicated to the community.

Jon K. Rust is publisher of the Southeast Missourian. He can be reached at jrust@semissourian. com.