Cape seeks $100,000 for Common Pleas repairs

Cape Girardeau will compete with 19 other DREAM communities to get one of five $100,000 courthouse preservation grants. On Monday, the Cape Girardeau City Council agreed unanimously to endorse the plan and provide $30,000 for the plan. The Cape Girardeau County Commission agreed to pay $50,000.

The money is intended to repair the heating and cooling system at the Common Pleas Courthouse on Lorimier Street.

Tim Arbeiter of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce said the city looked at various ways of fixing repeated pipe failures in the building and found that replacing the boiler, chiller and pipes is most cost-effective. The estimated price is $180,000. As part of the application process, the city must prove it can pay for any repair costs exceeding the $100,000 grant.

"The price to put in a whole new system, with ductwork, was really out of reach," he said Friday, but he couldn't recall an exact figure.

Ken Eftink, the city's development services director, and Arbeiter drafted the grant application.

Gov. Matt Blunt announced the $500,000 grant program to bolster the state's old courthouses in September. The program limits applicants to $100,000 for a historic courthouse still in use as it was originally intended.

"The city owns the Common Pleas Courthouse. The county uses it for their courthouse," said Arbeiter, the chamber's vice president for community development. He said the building is in "desperate need of repair."

The Common Pleas Courthouse is one of the state's 103 courthouses that are 50 years old or older. Old courthouses are considered a resource because they are typically highly visible and often reflect significant architectural styles or trends. DREAM community applications have an edge in the grant review process.

Though nearly half Missouri's old courthouses are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Cape Girardeau's is not. It is eligible for consideration, Arbeiter told council members Monday.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources' State Historic Preservation Office is running the courthouse preservation grant program, using money from the Missouri Historic Preservation Revolving Fund. Taxes on the personal income of athletes and entertainers who perform in Missouri but do not live in the state support the fund.

Arbeiter said the city's application is going through a final round of rewriting and proofreading but will be mailed before the 5 p.m. Friday deadline. Grants are scheduled to be announced sometime in December.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127