Group aiding homeless buys former police station

The former Cape Girardeau police station will become the new quarters for Community Caring Council, city officials announced Wednesday in a news release.

But first the Caring Council plans to repair and remodel it, a process the group's executive director, Melissa Stickel, said could take a year to complete.

Community Caring Council will rely on block grant funds, tax credits, other grants and local fundraising efforts to pay for the renovations, according to the news release.

Stickel said in a phone interview the organization hopes to sell "naming rights" for various parts of the building to help fund the project.

City council members voted unanimously Monday in closed session to accept the $100,000 purchase offer from Community Caring Council.

The Caring Council plans to move all of its offices into the old station at 40 S. Sprigg St.

Stickel said the former police station will provide badly needed space for all of the Community Caring Council services. The added space also will allow the not-for-profit organization to offer day services for the homeless. Those services will include laundry, showers and a mailing address.

It will not be a full-fledged homeless shelter as it will operate only during the daytime, she said.

The two-story, 13,800-square-foot building, constructed in 1976, stands on 1.83 acres. The property borders South Sprigg, Merriwether and Frederick streets. The partially unfinished basement covers nearly 3,000 square feet.

Community Caring Council's offer was one of three received by the city by the March 26 deadline.

The other offers came from Robert Janota and Humble Path, an organization established to support the community service efforts of various not-for-profit groups; and PORCH (People Organized to Revitalize Community Healing), a group aiming to revitalize Cape Girardeau's south-side neighborhood through the "Purpose Built Communities" model.

The PBC model transformed a neighborhood in Atlanta. It's a three-leg approach, including cradle-to-college education to end the cycle of generational poverty, an eye to community wellness and safety, and mixed-income housing.

Janota and Humble Path offered to buy the building for $189,000. It proposed to bring together various community-service organizations, including faith-based groups, at a single location to better serve the city's south-side neighborhood.

PORCH made an offer of $600. It proposed to use the building for administrative offices and meeting spaces, as well as a center for community programming and collaborative work.

Deputy city manager Molly Mehner said in a phone interview Wednesday city officials considered more than price in deciding which offer to accept.

Mehner said officials also weighed other factors such as proposed uses and the overall service to the community.

Stickel praised the council for considering the merits of the organization's overall offer and not just the purchase price.

"They ought to be complimented for that," she said in a phone interview. "I think they were clear that this wasn't necessarily a financial decision," Stickel said of the desire of city officials to sell the building.

The Community Caring Council soon will celebrate its 30th anniversary of serving the community, she said, adding the group has a good working relationship with the city.

Stickel said the organization now operates in cramped space in a Broadway office building. "We are busting out at the seams," she said. "We have offices on all three floors."

Relocating to the former station will allow Community Caring Council to more than double its space, according to Stickel.

Besides day services for the homeless, the increased space will allow Community Caring Council to expand housing services and enhance housing case management, according to the city's news release.

The Sprigg Street station has been vacant since the city opened its new police station in March 2018.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641