COMMITTEES SEEK SUPPORT OF WAR LANDMARK

Members of the city's Bicentennial and Historic Preservation commissions Monday elicited the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board's support for preservation and renovation of a Cape Girardeau Civil War landmark.

The park board unanimously approved a motion to endorse preservation of the site of Fort D, the last of four forts built in Cape Girardeau during the Civil War.

Martha Bender, a member of both commissions, told park board members that Fort D situated in the south end of town could qualify for listing on the National Register of Historic Place.

She said if the site is approved for the register the city might qualify for federal funds to renovate the fort and a stone structure built on the site in 1936.

Bicentennial Commissioner Sharon Sanders told the park board that the structure was built using the floor plan of the fort's powder magazine. She said the stone for the building came from a railroad depot in either Jackson or Pocahontas.

When the structure was built, the fort's earthworks also were reconstructed, Sanders said.

The building was built by the Works Project Administration (WPA), which Bender said gives the structure historic significance.

"There's a good deal of interest in WPA buildings, which are significant in themselves," said Bender. "Most of them are on the National Register already."

The building and three-acre fort site initially was bought from Mary Houck, widow of Louis Houck, by the Louis K. Juden Post of the American Legion.

The building also has been used by the Girl Scouts, the Civil Defense Department, Cape Girardeau Senior Citizens Club and the Junior Optimists. The stone building now is badly deteriorated, commissioners said.

Parks and Recreation Director Dan Muser said the Fort D site now is considered a city park.

Park board Chairman Jim Grebing asked members of the Historic Preservation Commission what responsibility the city would have to maintain the site if it's placed on the National Register.

"Once you receive the designation, you have to maintain the structure to certain standards or they'll simply drop it off the register," said commissioner John Schneider. "When they place you on the register, they're not going to fool with you unless someone complains that it's in disrepair or you're altering it in some way."

Grebing said that if funds aren't available to renovate the site, the city should at least be able to secure and preserve the fort in its present condition.

Board member Julia Kridelbaugh, who also is on the Bicentennial Commission, said the newly established Park Development Foundation would be a possible source of funds for the Fort D project. The foundation is a fund-raising corporation that accepts donations for various park projects.

"We're interested in the preservation of any historic, significant site in Cape Girardeau," said Schneider. "(Fort D) is of significance. How much, we don't even know yet, but we don't want it to go by the boards without at least making an effort to preserve it."

In other business, the board approved a plan to spend $2,300 to repair the backstop to the softball field in Arena Park that's used for the city's co-ed slow-pitch league.