Committee to ensure safety of Cape Girardeau buildings

By SCOTT MOYERS

Southeast Missourian

In May, an apartment building on the corner of Themis and Ellis streets in downtown Cape Girardeau collapsed, leaving a ruin of rubble in its place.

Fortunately, no one was hurt.

In June, Cape Girardeau Fire Department officials worried about the safety of an abandoned building at 36 N. Main St. after a resident informed police that bricks were bulging from its left side. Emergency officials blocked off a section of a Main Street sidewalk until the building's owner had the situation rectified.

Last month, downtown Clinton, Mo., suffered a tragedy when a building housing an Elks Lodge collapsed, killing one and trapping nine others for a time.

These incidents near and far have prompted the city of Cape Girardeau to begin organizing city staff, building inspectors, fire department officials and business owners into a committee that will take a proactive approach to making sure the buildings in downtown Cape Girardeau stay safe.

No one has suggested that downtown buildings are unsafe, but Mayor Jay Knudtson said he wants to make sure they continue to be safe.

"It's very much a huge concern," he said. "There is a real heightened awareness as to the condition of many of these buildings that are over 100 years old in some cases."

The recent incidents have only served to bring the issue of building safety to the forefront, Knudtson said.

Currently, inspections of downtown buildings by city fire inspectors, health inspectors and building inspectors are triggered when a business that serves alcohol has its annual liquor license renewal, said city manager Doug Leslie. Inspections also must be done when a business remodels or does some other construction that requires a permit, Leslie said. Spot inspections have also been performed in the past, he said.

Leslie admits it's possible that some buildings that don't serve alcohol and haven't been remodeled recently may not have been inspected in years.

"Quite possible," Leslie said. "But I don't have concerns about imminent threats down there. We want to preserve the buildings and make sure they're maintained. It's just that everybody has a heightened awareness right now with what happened in Clinton, Mo. It called our attention that we need to take a look at this."

The committee is expected to form in the next two to three weeks, said assistant city manager Heather Brooks. She said the purpose of the group will be to monitor the city's "older building stock."

The committee, which is in the process of being recruited, will formulate a plan to determine what needs to be done to improve the buildings, what problems exist and to locate outside funding if improvements are needed, she said.

"It's just about starting discussions in a proactive manner," Brooks said. "We want to stay on top of it to prevent a disaster from happening downtown. ... These buildings are not replaceable. We want to do everything we can to preserve them. Clinton, Mo., woke up a lot of cities."

Downtown business owners are not opposed to the formation of the committee. In fact, the idea was originally proposed by Dave Hutson, one of the owner of Hutson's Fine Furniture. But downtown business owners say their buildings are already safe.

"Most of these buildings are three-bricks thick," said Barry Robinson, owner of Cup 'N' Cork, a downtown restaurant, coffee and wine shop. "We've all got investments in our buildings. There's really no concern about any of these buildings."

Doc Cain, owner of Port Cape Girardeau restaurant, said the city recently recommended he replace two bricks on the corner of the building on Water Street and do some tuck-pointing on the front of the building which dates to the early 1860s. That work began last week.

"People are skittish after what happened in Clinton," Cain said. "They want the public to be safe, and I agree with that. But I do think, as a whole, the business owners take care of their properties as best as they can."

That's not always easy -- or inexpensive, said Terri Foley, a historic preservation expert and first vice president of Old Town Cape. Tuck-pointing a building generally costs between $40,000 and $60,000.

She said people should not forget that many of these buildings are more than 100 years old. "They do shift and change around," she said. "But these buildings are safe. Like all buildings, they require maintenance and upkeep."

Dave Hutson, an owner at Hutson's Fine Furniture, said an old building doesn't equate to an unsafe building.

He compared it to owning a classic old car: "You have to understand that it has its own little quirks and requires a little different kind of maintenance than a newer vehicle would," he said. "But they'll still run, and they'll still go a long way."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137