GREYHOUND SERVICE FINDS NEW QUARTERS

Greyhound Bus Lines has moved into new quarters in Cape Girardeau.

Seven buses daily are running from the new bus station, located at Spanky's Texaco, 353 S. Kings~highway.

"This is a full-service bus operation," said Bill Lefler, customer service supervisor with Greyhound Lines, Inc. "Tickets are available, we will have a nice waiting room area, and freight can be shipped or received by bus."

Lefler announced the new location Friday.

Hoche-Barklage Co. is the new ticket agent, the fourth for the Greyhound company in the past 15 months.

"We talked with Greyhound previously," said Dave Barklage, of Hoche-Barklage Co., which has three service station/convenience store operations in Cape Girardeau. "When we constructed the store at 353 S. Kingshighway, we included an 1,100-square-foot space for future expansion or business."

This is the space being utilized for the bus station.

"We still have some work to do," said Barklage. "We'll be adding seating for riders, and we'll be installing some video games. We also want to establish other support services money orders and Western Union for merchants and people in this area."

Barklage said the location was a good one for the bus company.

Lefler agrees.

"The location is great as far as getting buses in and out of Cape Girardeau," said Lefler. "We have good access to the station itself, as well as being closer to the interstate."

Bus service was resumed Thursday, said Lefler.

"Business has been brisk the first couple of days at the new location," said Lefler. "We have a good business out of Cape Girardeau, both passengers and freight. It's good to be back in business here."

Full bus service to Cape Girardeau was halted June 3 when the station at Sprigg and Themis closed.

"We picked up and discharged riders at the previous location for a while after it closed," said Lefler. "But, tickets were not available there, and freight could not be processed."

The new location is the fourth for the bus company since March 1990, when the former Union Bus Depot at 16 North Frederick closed. That facility had served as the Greyhound station more than 40 years.

Greyhound operated at the Union Bus Depot from 1947 to March 1990, when the agency was closed because of a decline in bus service following a 21-day Greyhound bus strike.

A new station agent assumed operation of the station, which opened at 1101 William. After five months, in August 1990, the station closed again. The station re-opened Sept. 4 in a newly renovated building on North Sprigg Street, where it remained until early June.

Tickets and freight shipments will be available at Spanky's, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

"We'll be open six days a week, excluding Sunday," said Barklage. "The station and convenience store will be open from 6 a.m. to midnight weekdays and 6 a.m. to about 2 a.m. weekdays.

"The first bus of the day usually runs about 6:30 a.m.," he said. "The last bus should be in here by around midnight."