Community Partnership plans spring occupancy of old Cape police HQ

Melissa Stickel, executive director of the Community Partnership of Southeast Missouri (CPSEMO), said Monday the $1.8 million complete remodel of the former Cape Girardeau Police Department headquarters to accommodate the not-for-profit is on track for move-in by May.

The project, originally estimated at $1 million, has seen the cost of renovation go up, partly because of the pandemic.

“COVID has jacked up prices for construction materials, for example,” said Stickel, who has headed CPSEMO, formerly known as Community Caring Council, since April 2017.

“Heating, ventilation and air conditioning expenses were higher than anticipated and roof repair rose from $75,000 to about $200,000,” she added.

Repurposing the old police station’s jail cells were more of a challenge than expected, too, Stickel said.

It has been a wild ride, she admited, for a social services organization known in part for its homeless outreach.

The Cape Girardeau City Council voted April 1, 2019, to accept the organization’s $100,000 bid to buy the two-story, 13,800-square-foot structure built in 1976 at 40 S. Sprigg St.

It would be a full year, however, before CPSEMO got the proceeds of a $500,000 community block development grant from the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

“We couldn’t move forward without the grant in-hand, and on the day we actually signed the purchase agreement last April, we had no idea what the true economic impact (of COVID-19) would eventually be,” Stickel said.

A workman from Riverside Roofing of Cape Girardeau works on the roof of Community Partnership of Southeast Missouri's new offices in the old Cape Girardeau police headquarters at 40 S. Sprigg St. on Monday.Jeff Long

In addition to homeless services, Community Partnership also offers case management to support “housing stability and self-sufficiency,” according to a 2019 report the not-for-profit prepared for the City Council.

The building has been vacant for nearly three years.

In March 2018, Cape Girardeau police relocated to new headquarters at 2530 Maria Louise Lane, near Arena Park.

Financing

The half-million-dollar block grant is only part of the project’s funding stream.

CPSEMO has also taken advantage of Neighborhood Assistance Program state tax credits.

“COVID has thwarted our ability to fundraise,” Stickel explained.

Although Community Partnership continues to seek donations, the organization expects to rely on loan financing more heavily than originally intended to complete the project, she added.

Notable programs

• Home Base

“Home Base is our first-floor connection point for the homeless, where a person can get a shower, use the kitchen and do laundry,” Stickel said, adding there will be no overnight sheltering accommodations available.

• Jailhouse Café

Stickel said the remodel will preserve the second-floor jail bars from the building’s previous incarnation as a police station for a dining area available to its clients.

“To get rid of the bars would be a disservice,” she said, adding “we have employees who have had the experience being in jail.

“We believe in second chances and the symbolism speaks to hope beyond the bars,” said Stickel, who from 1997 to 2000 served in the U.S. Army military police.

“I believe in restorative justice,” she added.

• EDGE

Stickel said CPSEMO is in its third year of participation in EDGE, a program funded by the Missouri Department of Social Services’ Family Support Division.

EDGE, an acronym meaning Employing Dads to Gain Employment, has worked with approximately 300 non-custodial fathers in a 10-county region since inception, most of whom have back child support to pay, Stickel said.

“The goal is to help them find employment, whether it be as a cashier, in a factory, at the casino or perhaps in a professional environment,” she said.

If the dads have gainful employment, they become financially stable and can pay off the child support, Stickel added.

“We engage (the fathers) in child support plans,” she continued.

Current offices

Stickel said Community Partnership will sell two of the three condo units currently housing its offices at 937 Broadway. A third unit is leased by the organization.

“We will apply the funds from the (condo) sale to the new building,” Stickel said.

The former police headquarters building sits on 1.83 acres and borders South Sprigg, Merriwether and Frederick streets and is within walking distance of the Salvation Army and transit services.

Sides Construction of Jackson is managing the remodeling project.