Cape Girardeau County's request for use of old federal building hits snag

Cape Girardeau County's bid for the old federal building at 339 Broadway has run into a problem.

On Monday, county commissioners learned their request for sponsorship to get the building has been rejected by the the U.S. Justice Department.

The county had applied to get the building transferred to its stewardship, with a law enforcement sponsorship from the Department of Justice.

In a letter signed by Maria Pressley-Berry of the Justice Department, "the proposed use of the building as a courthouse does not meet the criteria for law enforcement."

The letter went on to say the county could negotiate buying the building. Pressley-Berry was not available to explain her letter, the contents of which left county and regional planning officials puzzled.

"The explanation doesn't make sense," said Chauncey Buchheit, executive director of the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission, who helped draft the county's application. He said he'd spoken with Pressley-Barry last year. "When you read what the Department of Justice application document said, it says anything law-enforcement related, and what's more enforcement-related than courts?"

First District Commissioner Paul Koeper said he was also puzzled by the rejection and vague explanation.

Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones, reached by phone, said he did not have time for an interview.

Second District Commissioner Jay Purcell did not respond to a message left on his county phone.

Charlie Cook, a spokesman for the Heartland Region GSA Public Buildings Service, which controls such surplus properties as the old federal building, said the county has a series of options, including pursuing sponsorship from another federal agency or buying the property outright.

If the county does find a sponsor, the federal government would have the right to periodically inspect the space and rescind its agreement if the building was not being used as originally stated.

A church has also applied for the building with plans to use it as a homeless shelter. Cook said the church's application must reach the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by May 6, but he did not know the status as of Monday afternoon.

"If the HHS recommends giving [the church] the building, then GSA would need to follow that," Cook said. "If they don't, we'd move into the next phase, which would be the negotiated sale phase."

He said the May Greene Garden, a parcel of property behind the courthouse, has been submitted to the U.S. Park Service and would likely be maintained as a separate property.

On Monday, the commissioners asked Tom Schulte, district director for U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, to help with the transaction.

"We're not stymied," Schulte said later in a phone interview. "It's a good challenge. We need to figure out how to solve a puzzle."

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

388-3646

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