COMMUNITY BUILDING CONSTRUCTION BEGINS

It's hard to imagine Cape Girardeau without the Show Me Center or even the Arena Building.

City and civic leaders figure that same sentiment will apply to the Osage Park Community Center when it opens this fall.

The current schedule anticipates the structure will open in October or November.

The 33,728-square-foot building will boost conventions and recreation, park and convention officials say. The building could accommodate conventions of 1,500 to 2,000 people.

The structure taking shape along North Kingshighway, southeast of the Lexington and Mount Auburn intersection, will provide visitors with one of their first impressions of the city.

"Initially when you come to Cape, you have the beautiful county park and then the next landmark you see will be this building," said Jay Knudtson, park board chairman.

"It will leave a great taste in everybody's mouth when they come to town or leave town," he said.

From a practical standpoint, the building should be a regular stop for bus tours. "This is where they are going to go to the bathroom," said Dan Muser, parks and recreation director. The building will have plenty of toilets.

The structure likely will be open seven days a week.

Footings are currently being poured for the building, which will sit on raised ground. There will be parking spaces for 363 vehicles, most of it in front of the building.

The metal-framed building will have a green, pitched, metal roof. The exterior walls will be of a light tan, synthetic stucco material.

There will be four sets of front doors and a sheltered entryway.

"It is going to look nice when it is up," said project architect Tony Sebek.

A multipurpose room, about 17,000 square feet in size with a peak ceiling height of about 40 feet, will take up the main part of the building. The room will have a tile floor on a concrete pad.

Muser said the floor will have lines outlining the basketball and volleyball courts. The room can accommodate four basketball or volleyball courts.

There will be meeting rooms bordering the multipurpose room on one side and a fitness and weight lifting area on the other.

The center will have a food preparation area, but not a full kitchen.

Penzel Construction Co. is building the community center at Osage Park and a softball complex at Shawnee Park.

The combined project totals $5.3 million. The community center accounts for more than half the cost at $3.3 million.

Muser said the $3.3 million includes some equipment and furnishings. But additional items will have to be purchased when funding is available.

The city, for example, doesn't have any money in the budget right now to purchase a lighted sign similar to the one at Arena Park. Muser said the sign could cost around $35,000.

"We need a donation for a sign," he observed. Donations also could help with the purchase of equipment for the building.

The community center doesn't have an official name yet. City officials have suggested it could be named after a major donor if one comes forward.

The city's parks foundation has raised about $300,000, which has helped finance construction of the community center and the softball complex.

Officials hope the center eventually can come close to being self supporting through rental charges. But they don't predict the center will be a moneymaker.

"To expect this thing to become a cash cow right out of the chute would certainly be unrealistic," said Knudtson.

The city expects to spend $175,000 to operate the center for the first nine months it is open, which would take it to the end of the fiscal year in June 1997.

The city plans to hire a recreation programmer, administrative secretary and two maintenance workers for the building.

Penny Blandford, a recreation supervisor for the city, will manage the center. The Convention and Visitors Bureau will market it.

The city will charge rental fees for use of the building. The City Council will set the fees.

The park board and the Convention and Visitors Bureau board have recommended rental fees of from $800 to as much as $1,250 a day for use of the main floor.

The city will also charge for the use of volleyball and basketball courts, the meeting rooms and for rental of tables, chairs and other equipment.

While the center will serve both recreational and convention needs, Knudtson said the latter may take priority.

The city's Arena Building is too small for medium-sized conventions and the Show Me Center is too large. The other option is the Holiday Inn Convention Center.

"There are a lot of 600- to 800- to 1,000-member conventions that we are missing," said Bob Hoppmann, chairman of the Convention and Visitors Bureau board.

Hoppmann said the new building should attract major conventions.

"They want new. They want clean. They want bright, especially when you are talking state conventions," he said.

The center also provides the city with needed space for basketball and volleyball leagues.

The Arena Building can't meet the demand, recreation officials said. The city currently has to rent school and church gyms on a regular basis.