GOVERNMENT SEEKS SITE FOR BUILDING

A search is on for the site of a new U.S. courthouse and federal building in downtown Cape Girardeau.

Jim Odgen of the General Services Administration's Kansas City office said a minimum of 175,000 square feet of space is needed for the building.

The GSA outlined the boundaries for the building over a 15-block area bounded by Sprigg Street on the west, Spanish Street on the East, Independence Street on the south and Bellevue Street on the north.

"We'll be looking at the downtown area," said Odgen. "We call it the `central core' of Cape Girardeau."

Odgen added that the offering may consist of one block, or two adjacent blocks, as long as one block contains at least 100,000 square feet.

The search comes a year and a half after a U.S. Senate committee gave the go-ahead for funding of site acquisition and design work for a new federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau in January 1994. The Environment and Public Works Committee has authorized $3.8 million in funding.

Property owners or agents can submit sites for consideration to: General Services Administration, Public Buildings Service, Commercial Broker Enterprise (6PE-Z), Attn: Kevin Rothmier, 1500 E. Banister Road, Kansas City, Mo., 64131-3088.

Forms for submitting offers may be obtained from Rothmier by calling 1-816-926-1100.

Sites that might be donated to the government are solicited as well as sites that are for sale.

Although a deadline isn't set, GSA representatives will be in Cape Girardeau in late September.

"We hope to set up a public hearing the week of Sept. 25," said Odgen. "We'll be in Cape Girardeau to talk to people and discuss plans."

Congress approved funding for the courthouse project in 1993 as part of the 1994 federal budget.

Efforts to secure a new building began in 1991 when U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson, R-Mo., requested a feasibility study for a federal building.

Preliminary plans for the project call for construction of a 72,000-square-foot courthouse, which would be nearly three times the size of the current Federal Building.

A new courthouse is needed because of the expansion of the federal courts in Cape Girardeau, officials have said.

The new courthouse would house the federal courts, U.S. attorney's office and other federal law enforcement offices. The existing Federal Building would house other federal agencies.

The present Federal Building is about 28,000 square feet.

"We'll probably be looking at some renovations for the present building," said Odgen. Funding already is in place for renovations of the building at 339 Broadway.

Funding for the planning was approved following the encouragement of Emerson and U.S. Sens. John Danforth and Christopher Bond, both of Missouri.

The budget includes $3.9 million for site acquisition and design of a courthouse and $1.7 million for design and renovation of the Federal Building. The new building is expected to cost about $10 million.