Cape Splash sees banner attendance

Cape Girardeau’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board was told this week the city’s family aquatics center, Cape Splash, had “a very good weekend” on June 12 and 13, according to Penny Williams, the department’s recreation division manager, with 3,200 total admissions Saturday and Sunday.

Williams said weekdays tend to be “down days” in terms of attendance, but more than 1,000 people entered the 10-year-old facility Monday as Southeast Missouri continued to enjoy sunny and hot weather.

Ballfield project

Parks and Recreation Director Julia Jones said the projected $4.5 million youth ballfield complex is temporarily on hold in anticipation of the July 1 arrival of new city manager Kenneth Haskin.

Jones said she is hopeful of bids going out in July and opened in August for the project, which is one of the initiatives to be funded out of the Parks, Recreation and Stormwater Tax Renewal (PRS-2), approved by an 81% margin by city voters in April 2018.

Retirement

Jones’ last day as the department’s director will be July 12, meaning she will have spent “10 years and one day” on the job, she said.

A Missouri native, Jones came to Cape Girardeau in 2011 directly from a position as a parks and recreation manager for Seminole County, Florida — a county with 400,000 residents.

“I have mixed emotions (about leaving),” said Jones. “I love my job and career (but) it’s time for a new adventure.”

Jones anticipates a national search to find her successor, a process that may take two to three months, she said.

Notes

* Thursday will be the last day on the job for Cape Jaycee Municipal Golf Course general manager Cody Hinkebein, who has resigned.

* The Red House Interpretive Center will host an ice cream social Aug. 10, commemorating the precise date Missouri joined the U.S. as the nation’s 24th state in 1821.