Discovery Playhouse makes plans for move to Broadway, not William St.

Difficulties finding donors willing to invest in a leased facility forced the Discovery Playhouse to abandon plans for converting a building at 101 William St. into a children's museum, the president of the board said.

Instead, Discovery Playhouse found a new location at 502 Broadway, the old Walther's Furniture Co. building, president Martha Brown said.

The Discovery Playhouse had operated from 2006 until mid-2007 in West Park Mall in a 1,400 square-foot space. In May, the Missouri Department of Economic Development certified the Discovery Playhouse to use $172,270 in Neighborhood Assistance Tax credits to convert 6,500 square feet of the old Goddard Grocery Co. building at 101 William St. into an expanded museum.

The tax credits, granted as part of the Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri, or DREAM, Initiative, can be used by businesses to offset 50 percent of their donations to the museum. Gov. Matt Blunt visited Cape Girardeau in August to see the William Street building as plans were being drawn for the conversion.

"We had a lot of people who wanted to contribute to renovations and a permanent location who said the non-profit needed to own the building," Brown said Friday. "They felt that would be best in terms of long-term sustainability."

The William Street building is owned by John Wyman of Merriweather Investments. Negotiations over a sales price broke down when Wyman was unwilling to part with the building at a price the museum board would accept, Brown said.

Wyman did not return calls seeking comment.

The search for another location settled on the 502 Broadway building, owned by Paul Dirnberger, Brown said. The museum has signed a lease-purchase agreement with Dirnberger, and intends to complete the purchase within a year, she said.

Those plans, however, are contingent upon the state economic development agency approving the new location for the tax credits, she said. The museum board is also pursuing a new grant of tax credits to reward donors who contribute money toward the purchase of the 502 Broadway location, Brown said.

"We are really excited about that location," Brown said. "It has a lot more square footage and the ability to own the building was key."

When the move to William Street was announced, the museum projected a timeline that would have the museum open by late fall 2007. Brown did not have a projected opening date for the Broadway location.

"Even though this has delayed us, in the long term we felt it would be worth it," she said.

The building will need basic work to meet city building codes, including the installation of fire sprinklers, and it needs electrical and plumbing upgrades as well, Brown said.

The William Street building now has a sign in the window announcing it is available for sale or lease.

When the decision to abandon Wiliam Street occurred, Brown said, the museum board knew it would have to choose another location downtown to remain eligible for the tax credits because of the DREAM Initiative. The Broadway location fits that requirement, she said.

No public announcement of the change has been made because of the need to complete deals for the grants, line up contractors and make sure plans were final, Brown said. The public way the attempted move was handled last year was part of those considerations.

"We were making sure everything was OK before we said a lot," she said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126