Council gets broad outline for DREAM program

Cape Girardeau is in the freshman class of Missouri's DREAM Initiative and the city hopes to shine as a star pupil.

"This is exciting," said Mayor Jay Knudtson at Monday night's Cape Girardeau City Council meeting. "Right now the stars are aligned as well as they're ever going to be aligned. As such we need to look at what we've got to do to leverage and capture this opportunity."

DREAM is a state program meant to redirect state dollars and urban planning expertise toward smaller cities to revitalize downtown areas. Cape Girardeau was one of 10 Missouri cities selected in September to take part in the three-year program begun by Gov. Matt Blunt.

As part of its application, Cape Girardeau targeted three downtown areas for redevelopment aid. These areas are: the riverfront, including portions of Water, Main and Spanish streets; the Broadway Corridor between West End Boulevard and Lorimier Street, and the Good Hope area roughly between Highway 74 and Independence Street.

Last month, the city received a "scope of services" report from PGAV, a St. Louis-based consulting firm hired by the state. The report lays out in broad strokes how the firm will evaluate Cape Girardeau's downtown and help spur redevelopment over the next three years.

The cost to pay for consulting from PGAV and work from state officials is projected to be more than $200,000. Cape Girardeau could pay between $14,000 and $17,000 annually to defer some of the costs of the consulting work.

Among other things, the firm and state officials will analyze Old Town Cape's role as a downtown booster, they will help local officials write a "land use" plan documenting vacancies in the historic districts and evaluate the districts' strengths and weaknesses in the retail and housing markets.

All the information will help the firm produce a Downtown Strategic Plan giving a mission and goals for the three redevelopment zones.

Tim Arbeiter of the Cape Area Chamber of Commerce and Marla Mills, executive director of Old Town Cape, briefed council members on DREAM during the council's 5 p.m. study session.

Arbeiter said he cannot make a prediction on exactly where the program will be in one year or three years but expects it to move fast.

"Time is of the essence," he said, adding that within 18 months he expects work to be underway on a project targeted or spurred on by DREAM.

Arbeiter said collecting data about the three zones is essential because it will allow planners to prioritize projects by need and impact.

"Right now we have a hodgepodge of plans. We need to synthesize it into one document that will allow for us to sit down and say, 'yeah, those are the three top projects on our list,'" he said.

Councilman John Voss noted that during Cape Girardeau's recent town planning workshops held at the Osage Community Centre, support for downtown redevelopment was overwhelming.

"It's kind of the seed of where it all started and people really don't want to abandon that," he said.

State officials from the Department of Economic Development and Development Finance Board will also aid local officials in the DREAM process.

tgreaney@semissourian.com

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