FOUNDATION NIXES PLAN TO TEAR DOWN OLD HOUSE

The Southeast Missouri University Foundation has backed out of plans to buy a dilapidated, old house so that two Cape Girardeau men can obtain it and renovate the structure.

Foundation officials had considered buying the 90-year-old house at a cost of $24,500 and tearing it down. The property borders a university parking lot.

The owner of the house, Todd McBride of Cape Girardeau, agreed to sell the building at 534 Washington to the foundation, contingent upon approval by the fund-raising organization's 11-member executive committee.

But executive committee members nixed the idea after it was disclosed that Cape Girardeau businessmen Mike Thies and Rick Werner wanted to buy the old home and restore it.

"We decided not to buy it," Robert Foster, the foundation's executive director, said Monday.

Foster said the executive committee had been asked to consent in writing to the purchase of the property, with committee members essentially voting by mail.

Foster said that under foundation bylaws, such an "informal action" requires the committee's unanimous consent for it to take effect.

"When we started, we saw this as a very routine action, and then after they (Thies and Werner) expressed an interest in historic preservation, then that changed the complexion of the thing considerably," said Foster.

Some executive committee members ended up voting against the proposed purchase by the foundation. "Some of the others who voted positively indicated a desire to rethink the thing," he said.

As a result of the vote, the proposed purchase wasn't approved, Foster said. That left McBride free to sell the property to Thies and Werner.

Foster said that the property "is not critical" to the university and that "if it's possible to maintain it for historical purposes, we would like to see that done."

Thies said he couldn't believe that the foundation decided not to proceed with buying the house.

"Everyone from my family to the historic preservation board in Cape said, `If you are taking on the university, just hang it up.'"

Thies said the decision by the foundation executive committee shows that they "seemed to care a little bit."

He said he and Werner are acquiring the financing to buy the house for $25,000. The two men expect to sink much more than that into renovating the oak-floored house, which at one time served as a meeting place for riverboat captains and Depression-era farmers. Harry Truman visited the home on several occasions.

Thies said that more than 80 neighborhood residents had signed a petition opposing the university's plans to buy and raze the house.

Thies said that he and Werner plan to move into the house in July and begin renovations, working down from the top floor. Thies said they want to restore it to its 1920s-era grandeur, including putting stucco on the home's exterior.

The restoration job likely will take four years, Thies said.

"There has always been a charm to great old homes, and lots of people want them. But not too many people are able to do it, either financially or physically," he said. "It really is time and trouble, but it is worth it."

Frank Nickell, director of the Center for Regional History at Southeast, said he was pleased the house would be restored.

"I think that almost anyone involved in history likes the idea of preservation of a building that has historic significance to the community. I would say that this is an excellent opportunity to preserve a piece of the past," said Nickell.

He said it could give the university's historic preservation students an opportunity to observe a renovation project up close. "They can literally walk down the street and see something going on."

Nickell maintained that historic preservation efforts are coming of age in Cape Girardeau. "There is greater sensitivity now to historic preservation in this town," said Nickell.

McBride bought the rundown house in 1987 and turned it into rental property. A fraternity was the home's last tenant.

Thies said the fraternity was evicted in January for not paying its bills. McBride said the house was in such poor shape that it wasn't economical to repair it and rent it again.

Donald Harrison, president of the university's Board of Regents, serves on the foundation's executive committee.

He said the university's purpose is education, not restoring buildings. He said foundation officials were talking of tearing down the house because "it was in terrible shape."

But Harrison said now it only makes sense to let Thies and Werner buy the property and renovate the house. "If somebody wants to do something with it, so be it."