COUNCIL LIKELY TO OK RIVER CAMPUS PLAN

A vote in favor of a new proposal to fund the River Campus project is expected to be taken by the Cape Girardeau City Council tonight.

Southeast Missouri State University wants to issue bonds through a state bonding authority and retire the bonds with proceeds from restaurant and hotel-motel taxes approved last month by city voters.

The university's plan is an alternate to the original proposal that called for the city to issue bonds. That measure failed to achieve the four-sevenths majority needed for passage.

Although the agenda for tonight's council meeting at City Hall simply calls for discussion of the project, Mayor Al Spradling III anticipates a vote will be taken. Spradling said the council likely will vote to amend the existing cooperative agreement between the city and the university to substitute the new funding mechanism.

Barring any last-minute changes of positions by council members, the university's proposal likely will win unanimous approval. During a public forum Wednesday on the future of the project, Spradling and the other six council members each voiced their support of the project and the new funding method.

The River Campus would be built on the site of the former St. Vincent's Seminary on Morgan Oak Street and would house a visual and performing arts center. The city and university would pay for half of the project, while the state will be asked to fund the remaining half. The university would be responsible for lobbying the Legislature for $35.6 million in funding for the project.

In other matters, the council will vote on a site plan for a fourth major department store at West Park Mall and a special-use permit to build a new juvenile justice center. The votes are preliminary, with final action expected on Dec. 21. The city's Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended approval of both projects.

Westfield Corporation Inc., the Australia-based company which owns the mall, wants to build a two-level, 126,000-square-foot store for the business. Westfield isn't revealing identity of the tenant until negotiations are finalized. The addition would be at the main entrance on the mall's north side.

The juvenile justice center would be built by Cape Girardeau County in the 2100 block of Locust, a largely industrial area. The 24-to-40-cell building would replace the eight-cell detention center at 325 Merriwether and combine other juvenile services in one building.

The council is also expected to give final approval to an ordinance to establish a Vision 2020 community relations council to replace the existing Vision 2000 council.

Vision 2020, like its predecessor, will promote a variety of community improvement projects and public awareness campaigns.