CAREER CENTER TO CHANGE INTO OFFICES, STORAGE SPACE

The building that houses vocational education classes will have a different mission when the new Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center building opens to students in the fall.

Over the next seven months, crews will work to turn the former vocational school, which opened at 301 N. Clark in 1967, into office and storage space.

Long-term vocational courses, including respiratory therapy, licensed practical nursing and some business education classes will remain at the school over the summer.

But when the fall semester begins, only the well-used Adult Basic Education program will stay at the building.

"The main reason is because this is such a central location for a lot of those who use that center," said Career Center director Harold Tilley. "They're going to be given an additional amount of space here."

Tilley said he had hoped to have his staff moved into the new school by mid-June, but continued work on a nearby sewer construction project by city work crews has denied the school necessary access to water and sewer hook-ups.

"We're not going to move in there until it's all done. I really don't see any need to move in piecemeal," Tilley said.

Schools superintendent Dan Steska said the renovation project will allow departments currently working in makeshift work areas to have larger, permanent quarters that can be customized for their use.

"To the extent that we can, we would like to move out of mobile units and into buildings," said Steska.

For example, Steska said maintenance staff will occupy the former auto mechanics area of the vocational school. The area is equipped with a paint booth and car lifts that will enable employees to repair district vehicles themselves instead of sending them to repair shops.

Much of the new office space will be used by top administrators and central office staff who currently work at the Board of Education office at 61 N. Clark.

That building, which has an appraisal value of $400,000, is being advertised for sale and should be vacated by spring, Steska said. Proceeds from its sale will be used to offset costs of the renovation project, which has an early price tag of $150,000.

"That's just a broad estimate. I'm throwing numbers at the wall," Holshouser said.

Office space on the school's second floor will be rented to Caring Communities and the Missouri Mentoring Partnership, local service agencies that work with youth.

Steska said other organizations also are considering occupancy in the building.

"We just need to decide in terms of interaction with other programs where would be the best spaces for them," he said. "The nice thing about it is they're probably working with some of the same families."

Renovation in August

Steska said tight finances will mean the renovations will be kept simple and as much work as possible will be done in-house.

Maintenance crews consisting of regular staff and moonlighting teachers will gut the building and manage painting and other duties over the summer.

In August, construction technology students led by teacher Bud Thompson will begin renovating the building. Other vocational classes also will work to rewire the building and add additional ductwork for heating and cooling the new office spaces.

"A time frame is difficult to say when you've got students doing the work," Thompson said. "The walls should go up fairly fast."

Thompson's class generally builds a home in the city over two-year periods that later are sold by bid. Proceeds from the house sales are used to buy property for future classes.

"We have students who graduate that are employed in construction on the commercial as well as the residential sides," said Tilley. "This is probably a good thing because it'll give students both sides."

Tilley said he'll miss the familiarity that comes from working in a building for more than 20 years. Besides being in new surroundings, he'll also have to adapt to the bigger size of the new school.

"It's so easy now to go visit a teacher in the back hall. It only takes a minute or two," he said. "Now it might take me 10 minutes. Change can cause you to be unnerved just a little bit."