Cape gets $250K grant for Shawnee Park improvements

The City of Cape Girardeau was awarded a quarter-million dollar state grant for one of its facilities.

The $250,000 Local Tourism Asset Development Grant from the Missouri Department of Economic Development will be used to improve Shawnee Park Sports Complex.

"We are grateful for this opportunity to invest in the well-being of our residents and to enhance our tourism assets," Mayor Stacy Kinder said in a news release. "We look forward to the positive impact it will have on our community."

Shawnee Park is the host site for various local and regional tournaments.

In addition to the state grant, Cape Girardeau voters approved adding five youth-sized fields to the complex as part of the Parks, Recreation and Stormwater Tax in 2018. The state funds will allow the city to install bleacher shade structures on 13 fields, bleachers to expansion fields and a complexwide public address system, among other things.

Doug Gannon, Parks and Recreation Department director, said the improvement timelines will be tied together with the current timeline in FY2026. The grant sunsets June 30, 2026.

To be eligible for the grant, the municipality needed to have matching funds, Gannon said.

Since the local improvements were planned in 2017, Gannon said the state funds will allow the city to account for cost increases in recent years.

The improvements will allow the city to further market as a destination for sports tourism, something the city has been pursuing aggressively in the last decade with projects such as the SportsPlex. The facility just off Interstate 55 has been a major draw since it was built in 2017.

VisitCape director Brenda Newbern said in previous comments to the Southeast Missourian that there are often no hotel rooms within Cape Girardeau County on popular tournament weekends.

"We have a lot of momentum right now and we want to capitalize on that," city manager Kenneth Haskin said.

The grant will help Cape Girardeau stay competitive with the rest of the state and surrounding areas, he said.

Councilwoman Tameka Randle — who represents the ward containing Shawnee Park — said the grant is an investment that will help revitalize the southern part of the city.

Shawnee Park Sports Complex was built in 1997 using hotel-motel tax receipts and was further expanded in 2011. As of right now, the complex has eight baseball/softball fields, 14 soccer fields and two football fields.