CAPE COUNTY COMMISSION LOOKS AT BONDS TO FINANCE NATURE CENTER

JACKSON, Mo. -- The Cape Girardeau County Commission plans to issue $4.7 million in bonds to finance construction of the Missouri Department of Conservation nature center.

The state agency would pay back the county over 10 years, Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones said Thursday.

Jones said the commission has requested proposals from various financial institutions and bonding companies. Commissioners reviewed one firm's proposal Thursday morning.

Jones said the commission could settle on a firm within the next few weeks.

If all goes right, bonds could be issued this fall, he said.

Jones said he and Mitch Robinson, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association, proposed the funding plan as a way to get the project rolling.

Plans call for building a one-story nature center in Cape Girardeau County Park North. The Conservation Department hopes to let bids on the project by the first of the year. Construction could begin as early as April or May. The center is expected to open by fall 2002.

Jones said the Missouri Department of Conservation can't enter into long-term financial agreements. If the county were to wait until the agency had all the money in place to build the nature center, it could delay the project for years, he said.

"Instead of holding up the project, to wait maybe five years before they would accumulate money to build it, we are offering to do the financing and build it," the presiding commissioner said.

Jones said the bonds won't require voter approval. There won't be a tax increase, he said.

Ultimately, the state is paying for it. "They pay for everything. We are just arranging it," said Jones.

Even the bonds won't pay the entire cost. The entire price tag comes to $6.7 million. Jones said the Conservation Department hopes to raise the $2 million needed to round out the project.

The fund-raising would be done by the Heritage Foundation, the Conservation Department's fund-raising arm. Jones said he personally plans to help the Heritage Foundation raise funds for the project.

Jones said this is the first time that a county government in Missouri has been involved in financing a Conservation Department nature center.

If successful, the financing scheme could be used to build other nature centers around the state, Jones said.

"This is breaking ground," he said. "They have never done this before."