Cape Girardeau's Thorngate building to be redeveloped

A former factory building in Cape Girardeau is due for redevelopment by new ownership.

Cape Girardeau-based Thorngate Holdings LLC plans to create two businesses in the 63,000-square-foot space at 1515 Independence St. in order to revitalize the area, but also to attract regional visitors:

• Pickleball Factory: housing 14 climate-controlled championship level indoor-only courts.
• The Park: a car park storage area with vehicles maintained by staff.

According to Thorngate Holdings spokesman Jeff Brune, work should begin "in the next few weeks" with initial demolition of the western part of the structure previously condemned by the city.

Thorngate Ltd. — which manufactured high-end men's clothing — shut down operations in early 2009, laying off around 300 workers. The building was then purchased by Blair Packaging in early 2011.

"Blair Industries owned the Thorngate at the time of its closing," Brune said. "(Blair) manufactured cases for CDs, DVDs and video games, but were only using part of the building for that purpose. The rest was for storage."

The building was also where then-presidential candidate Barack Obama made his only known public campaign stop in Cape Girardeau in 2008.

Then-presidential candidate Barack Obama speaks in the Thorngate building, 1515 Independence St. in Cape Girardeau.Southeast Missourian file

Then-presidential candidate Barack Obama speaks in the Thorngate building, 1515 Independence St. in Cape Girardeau.Southeast Missourian file

Brune said Thorngate Holdings' original idea was to build a car park and storage facility.

"These structures are popping up all over the country — in places like Cape and in large metropolitan areas, too. From friends with multiple vehicles and car collectors, it's clear a car park is a definite need in town. When 1515 Independence went back on the market, we knew we could use it but there was too much space. So we came up with the idea of multiple pickleball courts," he said.

Pickleball Factory

Brune said pickleball, a recreational sport played in both indoor and outdoor venues, is growing rapidly in popularity in Southeast Missouri.

"It's insane how many people play pickleball," he said.

Pickleball is played with rackets or paddles and resembles tennis or ping pong but, according to the New York Times, is played in a considerably smaller space than a tennis court — more specifically resembling the size of doubles badminton.

"There are 811 members of Cape Girardeau pickleball Facebook page and 1,100 members on the Southern Illinois page," Brune said. "It's such a hassle for people to find a venue to play. There are just not enough courts."

Additional information about the plans for the former Thorngate building may be found in the business section of the Southeast Missourian, found online Mondays and in print Tuesdays.