City leaders give project updates at First Friday Coffee

The Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri Initiative and improvements to recreation facilities were among the project updates by four city leaders at the monthly First Friday Coffee in Cape Girardeau.

"We are determined to exceed the expectations of the community," parks and recreation advisory board chairman Danny Essner told about 170 business leaders inside the Show Me Center. "Our staff has their ducks in a row."

Projects planned for 2009 include construction of an aquatic center featuring water slides and a lazy river adjacent to the Osage Community Centre and replacing the greens and irrigation system of the Jaycee Municipal Golf Course at 3280 Perryville Road.

"We are fired up about the projects, especially the aquatic center," Essner said. "This will pull people of all ages from here and the outlying areas. The aquatic center that we hope will open in the spring of 2010 is something that has been needed here for some time."

Essner added that the department will publish a newsletter informing the public of further projects. The newsletter, at least at first, will only be accessible through the Parks and Recreation Web site, though the page is currently under construction.

Marla Mills, executive director of Old Town Cape, reported about the DREAM Initiative. The three-year program's goal is to produce a detailed strategic plan for three downtown sections of the city.

When complete, Mills said, the initiative will have brought $185,000 in planning expertise and products including a strategic downtown development plan. Already, the DREAM Initiative has brought in more than $2 million for the city's infrastructure.

Improvements have included $370,800 in block grant funding to apply to the development of a north downtown parking lot with public restrooms, $102,000 to repair five homes in the DREAM boundaries and $850,000 in state and federal tax credits and grants to develop affordable senior housing.

"We're trying to take advantage of all the money that has been coming in that we've never had before to improve our community," Mills said.

For her part, city engineer Kelly Green updated business leaders on such projects as the widening of Independence Street from 36- to 44-foot lanes. Green said that once complete, the project will improve the aesthetic look of the area while giving a face lift to the pavement and sewer drainage system.

And Cape Girardeau Public Library director Betty Martin reported on the progress of the new public library. Despite a 34-day delay from its original completion date of Dec. 31, Martin is pleased with the new amenities of the library on Clark Avenue. New meeting rooms that will hold 200 people and include a dividing wall down the middle, a new conference room for 16 people, a children's program room for 100 and three small-group tutoring rooms.

"I want to thank all of you who believe Cape Girardeau should have a great public library and voted to make that happen," Martin said.

bblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137

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