COUNCIL VOTES TO STUDY SEMINARY PROJECT

The Cape Girardeau City Council Monday voted to study spending excess tourism funds on a proposal to turn the St. Vincent's Seminary property into a museum and Civil War interpretive center.

The council unanimously approved the measure despite the objections of some members that it was a "slap in the face" to the city's Convention and Visitors Advisory Board.

The board recommended that the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board study and develop a "sports theme" proposal for use of the tourism funds. The proposal was then to go back to the council. The council last month approved the convention group's recommendation.

But about 60 people attended Monday's meeting in support of the Colonial Cape Girardeau Foundation's proposal for St. Vincent's.

Councilman Melvin Gateley presented a typed motion to study that project as well as the sports complex proposal.

But council member Mary Wulfers said she didn't think the motion was necessary because the council has yet to approve a specific project. She said it wouldn't be fair to grant the request of one group for further study of a project when about 30 other groups also submitted proposals for use of tourism funds.

"As long as we're reviewing this one, in all fairness, do we need to review all of them?" she said.

But Gateley said the council's decision to ask the park board to study a sports theme proposal gave that project an inside track for the money.

"The time has come for us to have a level playing field," he added.

Wulfers said she resented Gateley's statement.

"In my opinion, the playing field has just been made unlevel by demanding more information on two projects," she said. "How fair is it for us to sit here now and request information on two? The original task was given to the CVB board.

"That was a consensus of the council that we decided that was how it was going to be handled and now we're changing the rules."

Councilman Al Spradling III said Gateley's motion essentially would "throw by the wayside" the convention group's recommendation, which came after months of study. Sprad~ling said to ignore their work would be "a slap in the face."

Members of the board said they met for 2-6 hours weekly for six months considering tourism fund proposals before making a recommendation last month.

Councilman David Limbaugh said he wasn't opposed to further study of the Colonial Cape Girardeau Foundation's proposal, but he questioned usurping the CVB's recommendation.

Limbaugh also questioned whether the tourism funds would be sufficient to really help the $11 million proposal.

"I'm not trying to put a damper on a dream, but I want to make sure it's a wise fiscal decision so we're not just throwing money away," he said. "We just can't go for every good-sounding idea."

Earlier in Monday's meeting, Barbara Rust, president of the foundation, and David Murphy, the group's executive director, discussed the proposal for the nearly 150-year-old seminary property.

Murphy asked the council for $223,000 in "seed money" to go toward the $600,000 purchase price of the property. The site formerly had a $1.1 million price tag.

Murphy said the project would be done in phases using private and corporate donations and state and federal grants. Plans for the site call for a museum, Civil War interpretive center and re-enactment area, amphitheater, U.S. Grant presidential library, an excursion train, riverfront museum and replica Civil War gunboat.

Also included in the foundation's proposal is a restored log cabin with "working crafts" at the site of the former International Shoe Company site on North Main and a downtown trolley car.

"All of these things go together in making a terrific point of interest for our city," said Murphy.

He said that to spend excess tourism funds for any other purpose "would, as we all know, be wrong."

"This council wouldn't want to be remembered as the council that lost the opportunity to purchase the St. Vincent's property," he added.

Murphy and others at the meeting said the seminary proposal would draw tourists and spur economic development.

Loretta Schneider, a former council member who supports the project, said development of the seminary property would boost economic development in Cape Girardeau.

"We feel, and we're united in this feeling, that this is an item that's going to bring in a lot of revenue for the city," Schneider said. "It is going to happen, but it's going to be much better for the city if we work together on this."

In other business, the council revisited the much-debated issue of whether to bid out residential trash service. Miki Gudermuth urged the council to bid the service.

Mayor Gene Rhodes asked that discussion of bidding the service be included on the agenda for the council's next meeting, Aug. 17.

But Limbaugh defended the council against repeated criticism that it has failed to act in the public's best interest by not bidding the service in the past.

Limbaugh said the item has been discussed repeatedly since he's been on the council. He compared revisiting the issue to the council's action on use of tourism funds as examples of the council's lack of conviction.

"Are we just going to be a tail that gets wagged by every dog that protests the loudest?" he said. "Are we ever going to see any leadership?