Cape council votes for Jefferson School site for aquatic center

Editor's Note: This story has been edited to correct the name of the parks director.

The Cape Girardeau City Council unanimously voted Monday to build and operate an indoor aquatic center near Jefferson Elementary School in partnership with the local school district.

The city has pledged $6 million toward building the facility. That money would come from a parks and stormwater tax approved by voters last April.

School officials are looking at contributing another $4 million for construction.

But council members cautioned the project depends upon voters approving a school bond issue this April.

The school board will consider approving the partnership and site when it votes next week on placing a bond issue on the ballot.

An aquatics committee, comprised of representatives of the city and public school system, voted 4-2 last month to recommend an aquatic center be constructed on a 17-acre site near Jefferson School in partnership with the school district.

But questions remain over how much money it will take to construct such a facility.

Parks and recreation director Julia Jones said in a written report to the council the committee favors a 31,100-square-foot facility that would cost about $13 million to build. Additional funding would be needed to construct such a facility, she said.

Council members did not discuss that price tag during the meeting.

But council members said the school district is the only entity that has agreed to partner with the city on the project, both in terms of construction and in sharing operating costs.

School officials have indicated the district would be willing to pay 40 percent of the operating costs.

Two community residents urged the council to step back and look for other potential partners before making a final decision on where to locate the aquatic center.

Cape Girardeau banker Percy Huston said it appeared city officials were on a “rapid pace” to make a decision. He said delaying a decision might allow time to secure additional financial partners.

David Cantrell said he worked to help pass the extension of the parks and stormwater tax last year. He said voters were told the aquatic center would serve the city, not just the school district.

“This is not what I had in mind. I don’t think it is what voters had in mind,” he said.

Like Huston, he asked the council to study the issue more before making a decision.

But council members said there was no need to wait.

City officials made it clear from the beginning they would seek partnerships for the project, council members said.

Ward 6 Councilwoman Stacy Kinder said, “People had time to express interest.”

She and other council members said the school district was the only entity to step forward with a solid proposal.

Jackson contractor Phil Penzel late last year expressed interest in developing a partnership involving Midamerica Hotels, the city of Jackson and the Jackson School District to locate an aquatic center near the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex.

But Cape Girardeau council members said Monday that Midamerica only offered land, and neither the Jackson School District nor the City of Jackson had made any concrete offer.

Mayor Bob Fox said Penzel’s letter of interest was “pie in the sky.”

Kinder said of the Penzel letter, “There was just a lot of hypothetical and no commitment.”

The aquatic center would replace the existing Central Municipal Pool, which is operated by the city and the Cape Girardeau School District.

Neil Glass, superintendent of the school district, reminded the council the two entities have partnered in the operation of the pool for about 40 years.

He said school officials want to continue the partnership with a new aquatic center.

Both Glass and city officials said placing the aquatic center near Jefferson School could serve as a catalyst for revitalization of the impoverished south-side neighborhood.

Glass said the Wall Street Journal reported last year Cape Girardeau had the most concentrated poverty of any city in Missouri.

“We see the need. We see the opportunity,” he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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