First phase of walkway along Mississippi River begun

When old structures crumble and decay, they are often torn down to make way for modern versions with sharper corners and smoother curves.

But when Cape Girardeau civil engineer Abdul Alkadry started making plans for Cape Girardeau's new River Front Trail, he visited the site and saw something that, in its own way, was still quite beautiful.

Three years ago, it sat weathered and cracked alongside the Mississippi River, corralling a small lot that was home to generations of chest-high weeds next to the city's monolithic floodwall.

A concrete hand rail nearly a century old crowned a retaining wall next to what used to be railroad tracks. Pieces of it were missing and sections were structurally questionable, but there was something about the thick rail Alkadry found appealing. Where others may see a relic to be broken up and hauled away, he saw potential.

"To me, I thought it was neat," he said. "I'm an engineering buff, and something about 100-year-old concrete intrigues me."

Built between 1911 and 1913

And so he decided to work it into the plans of the new concrete walkway that would stretch an additional 923 feet along the floodwall to a small cul-de-sac.

The rail was built between 1911 and 1913. It sat there for more than 40 years the city's view of it was hidden behind the floodwall in 1956. It once stretched from north of Merriwether Street to Independence Street, but portions of it were torn down over the years.

What remains is being restored with a patching compound and reconstructed in a section that was deemed too damaged to keep. The rail will be painted so the patches aren't as evident.

The work has garnered some attention from passers-by, Alkadry said.

"We've had a lot of people walk over and say, 'What are you guys doing?'" he said. "But then they find out and are pleased."

C. Andy Juden Jr. has maintained the Main Street Levy District since 1959. The improvements and extra paving will certainly make his job more pleasant, he said.

"We try to keep the weeds down and before you had to pack water down there from the Themis Street gate in 3-gallon containers," he said. "With what they've done, you can drive a truck in there and it certainly will make the job easier."

He's happy to see the rail restored because it has taken plenty of abuse over the years.

"When the river got high enough, barges used to tie off on that handrail and that damaged it," he said. "The Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard attempted to stop that from happening, but you'd have to be there to catch them or their cables would cut into the concrete."

In portions where the concrete is completely worn away, the original square-shaped reinforcing bars are visible, Juden said.

"That's the way they made them around the turn of the 20th century," he said. "Now reinforcing bars are round."

The first phase of River Front Trail's construction will extend 923 feet along the river from Broadway to a point near Merriwether. The work requires replacing tie-down structures, building concrete stairs and hand rails, and installing sidewalk, curbs and ramps.

Over the next 80 days, the contractor, Nip Kelley Trucking and Equipment Co., will replace, repair and install sidewalks as needed from the floodgate at Merriwether south to William Street and then west to Spanish Street. From there it will go south to Morgan Oak, where it will join a planned trail at the River Campus.

80 percent federal money

This phase will cost $419,822.59, of which 80 percent will be paid for by a grant and 20 percent by the city. The second phase includes an additional 750 feet of concrete work north of Riverfront Park and lighting installation.

"When it's done, if you are a walker or a biker, that'll be the place to do it," Alkadry said. "Because of the diversity of downtown Cape and the river, it's a very nice walk."

Former alderman Tom Neumeyer, whose second term ended April 2002, advocated for the improvements during his terms on the city council.

"The one neat thing about it is that a very high percentage of what's paying for this is federal funding," he said. "It's a reinvestment of our tax dollars coming back here, and the city is being a good steward of that money. It's putting local crafts people to work, too, so everybody wins on this one."

Neumeyer hopes to see the project extended the entire length of the floodwall.

"The idea is to reopen the river to the community," he said. "The floodwall is a necessity, and it proved its worth in 1993 with the flood. It's that big slumbering giant we need for protection, but hopefully the trail will reconnect us with the river."

mwells@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160