City breaks ground on rose garden relocation

Despite the snow and mud, city leaders were all smiles Monday morning as they gathered at Murtaugh Park to overturn the first shovelfuls of dirt for the Melvin Gateley Vision 2000 Garden.

The rose garden originally was behind Cape Girardeau City Hall and had to be relocated after it was determined the city needed to run a utility line through the area. Its new home is in Murtaugh Park, near the corner of William and Main streets, in front of the Red House Interpretive Center.

The garden honors Melvin Gateley, a former teacher, principal and Ward 2 council member who worked to improve and restore pride in the city through Vision 2000 and Vision 2020. Through Vision 2000, Gateley helped plant more than 5,000 rose bushes across the city during the late 1980s and '90s.

A groundbreaking ceremony Monday, March 17, 2014 for the Melvin Gateley Vision 2000 Garden at Murtaugh Park on South Main Street in downtown Cape Girardeau officially marks its relocation from City Hall. (Fred Lynch)

Mayor Harry Rediger spoke before the groundbreaking and shared some of his memories of serving on the Vision 2000 steering committee. Of all the decisions made by the committee, he said, the most important one was choosing Gateley to be the leader.

The mayor said the city commemorated Gateley's hard work by creating the rose garden behind city hall, but it hardly received the attention it deserved.

"I realized I very seldom went back and looked at the garden and reminisced, and I don't think very many citizens did, either," Rediger said.

When Gateley realized the garden would be moved, he said, he considered it a new beginning.

"By being a community project, it gets great exposure, which is a plus for the garden, as well as the city and the Red House," Gateley said.

The garden may be named in his honor, but Gateley said there were many other people responsible for the successes of Vision 2000.

"From 1987 to 2000 this little city was abuzz," he said. "It wasn't Melvin, it was hundreds of committees and everything [that made it possible]."

He also expressed his gratitude to the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department for its help moving and organizing the new garden.

Rediger said the garden would be enhanced with new landscaping, brick pavers and a bubbling fountain. Gateley also has plans for kiosks that will tell the garden's story and recognize people who were involved in implementation of the Vision 2000 plan. The garden is expected to be complete by summer.

Gateley also encouraged people to purchase engraved bricks, which will help fund the garden's new amenities. Engraved bricks that were bought and included in the old garden also are being redone to be included in the new garden.

Those interested in purchasing personalized garden bricks may contact the city's parks and recreation department at 339-6340.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

William Street and Main Street, Cape Girardeau, Mo.