Downtown Cape upgrade, beautification projects moving forward

Upgrades to Ivers Square at the Common Pleas Courthouse and additional beautification projects still are happening in downtown Cape Girardeau, but not all changes will be immediate.

Old Town Cape executive director Marla Mills said in a phone interview Friday the Ivers Square revitalization project won�t be short-term, but other projects now are underway.

In November, Cape Girardeau won a $127,650 grant to preserve and upgrade Ivers Square after a voting campaign. The Partners in Preservation grant, awarded through the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express in partnership with Main Street America, was one of 11 awarded to communities around the U.S.

�The grant itself was more of a proposal, so now we have to get it all nailed down, but it�ll basically be over a year and half or less, we hope,� Mills said, when asked about the date of project completion.

The city of Cape Girardeau is working with a structural engineer to make sure whatever upgrades completed are structurally appropriate for the site.

The sculpture "T.H.E.B. Caution" by Jeff Boshart of Charleston, Illinois, is seen Friday on Broadway in downtown Cape Girardeau.Fred Lynch

�There�s quite a bit that will happen with the gazebo,� Mills said, including new electrical wiring and an additional project that will tell the story of why it was named Ivers Square. The city renamed the park in June to pay tribute to James Ivers, a former slave who joined the Union Army to serve in the Civil War.

As for the rest of the proposed beautification projects for downtown, things also are going as planned.

�There is a lot going on, as far as development,� Mills said

�A separate grant project, which includes new reader boards for the Wall of Fame, should be installed by the end of March 2018,� Mills said. �They�re in fabrication now. We did, a couple years ago, complete the reader boards for the Mississippi River Tales Mural, and we replaced those through the same kind of grant.�

Old Town Cape is part of the Public Art committee that includes the city of Cape Girardeau, Arts Council of Southeast Missouri and Chris Wubbena, a sculpture professor at Southeast Missouri State University. One of the things the committee is responsible for is a rotating art exhibit along Broadway.

Most of the pieces of art along Broadway � seven pieces � rotate out yearly, according to Mills.

�It�s a juried sculpture show, and the artists loan their work to the city of Cape Girardeau for one year,� Mills said.

The city and the Arts Council will host a reception March 12 to debut the newly placed art on Broadway, along with the artists.

Mills said the city also is working on alley improvements, and officials are �hoping to have one of them accomplished in the next couple of months, on Main Street.�

jhartwig@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3632

Pertinent address:

Ivers Square, Cape Girardeau, Mo.