FORT D PRESERVATION DIFFICULT AMID VANDALISM

The messages on the back wall of Fort D suggest civil disobedience rather than any tribute to the Civil War.

The graffiti, painted in unrelated blue scrawl against the white brick of the Civil War memorial, reads: "AC/DC Rules; Guns-N-Roses." Such vandalism has frustrated Cape Girardeau Parks Director Dan Muser for some time.

"It seems like the people who paint the walls wait until we clean it up, then go back and paint over it again," Muser said. "That's not the only park that we see graffiti at, but because the site is of historical value, it probably stands out a little more."

Muser said the parks and recreation department already spends considerable manhours maintaining the grounds and doing spot repair work on the building to keep it from falling into complete disrepair.

"The doors are boarded up to keep vandals out, but we're doing work on the top parapet to keep it from deteriorating and we're continually trying to use mortar to waterproof it," he said.

"We probably spend more manhours on that park that we do on three or four others put together."

On May 6, 1936, members of the Louis K. Juden American Legion Post voted unanimously to purchase the 3-acre tract near May Greene School.

The intent was for the Works Progress Administration to build a Civil War memorial and public park. In addition, the building was to serve as a physical reminder of the last of four Civil War forts that once existed in Cape Girardeau. The forts were identified as A, B, C and D.

Over the years the fort has been used by the American Legion, Girl Scouts and Fort D Senior Citizens.

"Actually, from a historical perspective, it wouldn't have looked like the building that now stands there during the Civil War," Muser said. "It would have been closer to a wooden lean-to shed with gun emplacements. And the grounds have been reshaped. But it is still an important part of history and that is what the building stands for."

The site was used by Union forces to deter Confederates from advancing along the Mississippi. "The gun emplacements were supposed to keep soldiers from moving up the embankment," Muser said.

Martha Bender, who is on the Cape Girardeau Historic Preservation Commission, said she would like to sit down with the park board and talk about what can be done to preserve and develop more interest in the building.

"What we need to do is have a special drive to raise money for more work on the building," Bender said. "We could go about it the same way we held a telethon to raise money for the fence around Lorimier Cemetery."

City Councilman Melvin Gateley would like to see the site placed on a landmark list. "I know there are a number of groups interested in Fort D," Gateley said. "It's not on any capital improvement plan or anything like that. But maybe we need to think about putting some time and effort into restoring the building more so it could be on the city's tour list."

Muser said he didn't know what more could be done to the building if it is merely going to be something tourists can stop and look at. "If someone wanted to turn it into a museum and man the building, then I could see a reason to fix it up," he said. "But then you would have to have some type of security in place to keep it from being hurt by vandalism."

Park Board Chairman Jim Grebing said there have been discussions with the preservation commission about what could be done to enhance both the aesthetics and use of the building.

Gateley said, "It would be a shame for us to let that building and the historic significance of that site get away from us."