CHAMBER BUYS LAND FOR OFFICE BUILDING

Property near the 1200 block of North Mount Auburn Road between Ford and Sons Funeral Homes and Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. has been purchased as site for a new Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce building.

The recently-organized building committee is at the architectural stage, said Lyle Davis, chairman of the committee. "We hope to have some rough plans by our next meeting Tuesday," said Davis, "We have an idea of what we'd like to have."

The chamber has been housed at 601 N. Kingshighway for more than 20 years.

The new site follows a recommendation of the chamber's facility subcommittee, which was disbanded after the chamber board approved the Mount Auburn Road site.

The property, eight-tenths of an acre with 150-foot frontage and 235 feet depth, was purchased from Walter J. "Doc" Ford.

The facilities subcommittee looked at a number of sites. More than 30 locations had been suggested.

The idea of a new chamber facility emerged two years ago during the chamber's annual retreat, but was placed on hold. The idea resurfaced in November 1994, when the chamber received an unsolicited offer for its present building.

The board accepted the offer from Christopher H. and Myra Jung. A lease agreement with the new owners allows the chamber to remain in its present site through November 1996.

The new chamber building is expected to be in the 4,000-square-foot range. The chamber has about 2,800 square feet in its present building.

The new site will be only the fourth for the chamber since it was founded in 1920. The chamber met in the Elks Building the first eight years of existence before settling in at 225 Broadway in 1928. It stayed there until moving to North Kingshighway.