GLIMPSING THE POSSIBLE FUTURE: CITY POISED FOR NEW DEVELOPMENT

They say no one can predict the future, but one has to wonder about Cape Girardeau's city fathers.

In 1963, the public school board bought about 55 acres of land on the mostly undeveloped northeast side of town. Today, the district's two tracts sit at one of the city newest, most accessible intersections.

Then, in 1987, Richard Renfrow donated to the city two parcels of land near the school district's property. There weren't any roads to get to the sites, but they were thankfully accepted.

Finally, in 1990, the city started purchasing right-of-way for the North Sprigg Street Extension. It looked as though Cape Girardeau would need another fire station, so the City Council voted to buy one undeveloped lot along with the right-of-way.

Now all the pieces are tied together by the Sprigg and Lexington extensions, due to open at the end of August or beginning of September. What happens next is anyone's guess -- or prediction.

"That's why they hire city planners," said Kent Bratton, Cape Girardeau's city planner. He was involved in purchasing the potential fire station property, and the price was cheaper because the land wasn't developed.

Now Bratton's maps show housing developments near the intersections of North Sprigg Extension with Bertling and Lexington. The city recently approved improvement plans for the Bertling neighborhood, which is expected to feature more than 50 $100,000 homes. The other runs along Sprigg and will have lots for 120 homes in the $100,000-plus range.

With the potential for a school, fire station and two parks nearby, other parts of the area might develop quickly.

Casquin Park, planned for the west side of the Sprigg extension, contains 7.3 acres of land. It may be ideal for a pond, Bratton said, depending on water sources. Delaware Park, located on Lexington, contains 18.2 acres of wooded area.

Bratton expects Casquin to be developed in the next five years, Delaware in the next 10.

Interim Fire Chief Max Jauch said he hopes the new fire station comes even sooner. It's an unfunded building on the city's capital improvement plan, designed to replace Fire Station 3 on Emerald Street.

The Emerald Street station was built in 1951 to hold fire trucks designed for that era. Trucks weren't as large back then, and the neighborhood not as developed.

Jauch said it's difficult for firefighters to back trucks into the narrow bays. Their access to Sprigg Street, the nearest main thoroughfare, isn't ideal, either.

A new building like the one Jauch and his crew want would cost in the neighborhood of $600,000 to $800,000, a prohibitive figure given the current city budget.

"We would like to see a full basement," Jauch said. "We need storage space really bad. They keep putting basements on the plans, but they never get built."

He said he would like to move people into the building in the next couple years or so, a move that would improve response time in the West Cape Rock Drive area. No moving date is imminent.

It's the same case with Cape Girardeau Public Schools. Its parcels on the northern corners of North Sprigg Street Extension and Bertling are ready for development. Those parcels usually get mentioned when the district starts discussing a bond issue for additional buildings.

That discussion is starting again.

"We're intentionally not discussing locations this time," said Dr. Dan Tallent, superintendent. "We're going at it from the angle of researching the facilities we need to provide services for the kids.

"But I think it would be practical to say, if we have land, we would locate something on it."

That something could be an elementary, middle or high school -- the school board hasn't decided. Tallent admitted that the tracts are enviable, located in a growing neighborhood with brand new streets.

Now residents wait to see if all the factors come together and make the neighborhood city fathers saw all those years ago. Cape Girardeau's city planner thinks the predictions were right.

"We will have a whole lot of growth going on out there real quickly," Bratton said.