DAMAGE TO BUILDINGS HALTS FLOOD-CONTROL WORK

The stalled Cape LaCroix-Walker Creek flood control project is on shaky ground with no plans in the immediate future for contractors to resume construction.

Construction was halted several months ago because excavation equipment damaged the building at the corner of Kingshighway and Bloomfield Road.

"They're going to have to come up with some kind of plan to support the building," said Charles Blattner, who owns the building used temporarily by the Sleepy Hollow Furniture company. Blattner said the building was damaged because dirt removed for work on the Cape LaCroix Creek Bridge wasn't replaced with something to support the foundation.

"That's when all the problems started," Blattner said. "With no support, the building shifted and then there was damage to the wall and foundation. Even with support, the building has shifted on several instances."

And because the contractors for the job, Dumey Excavating and Brenda Kay Construction, are digging very close to the building, the work won't be completed without some way to support the structures is devised.

City officials will meet today with contractors and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which designed the project, to try to find a solution. But Blattner won't attend the meeting.

"I tried to get some kind of a meeting set up earlier in the week and it didn't happen," he said.

Ken Eftink, Cape Girardeau's development services coordinator, said the estimated $40 million flood-control project will be delayed until Blattner can be assured of no further damage to his property.

He hopes today's meeting will elicit a solution or at least an indication of the duration of the delay.

But Blattner said he won't give the green light to the contractors until he is certain a plan is devised that will prevent further damage to his building.

Removal of dirt has caused damage to at least one other building near the construction site. A portion of a storage building wall, which was once used by the Sunny Hill Pet Center, collapsed a year ago.

Bill Brinkopf, part owner of the Sunny Hill Pet Center at 335 S. Christine, said the store's inventory was moved before the building was damaged.

"When you're using heavy equipment in such a small area, there is the chance that something will get damaged," Brinkopf said. "We're not using the building right now, so we'll just wait until they begin construction again and they rebuild the wall for us."

The flood-control project is being financed with a quarter-cent capital improvements tax approved by city voters and with matching federal money. The project, which was supposed to be completed by the 1997-98 fiscal year, will be delayed indefinitely until a solution can be worked out. "It's hard to say how long it will take because of the problems with the building," said Eftink.