GROUP CONSIDERS OLD HOSPITAL FOR COMMUNITY CENTER; ST. FRANCIS ONE OPTION FOR SETTING UP SOCIAL PROGRAMS

Organizers of a community center being proposed for South Cape Girardeau are focusing on the old St. Francis Hospital building.

That doesn't mean other sites won't be considered should the old hospital not prove a workable option, said the president of the Family Resource Center Inc.'s board of directors.

"If we don't get this site, we're not just going to quit," said the director, Janet Maevers.

The group wants to set up a facility to house a variety of programs -- including child care, recreation, education and state social services -- to serve residents of South Cape Girardeau.

The group faces a number of decisions, said Edythe Davis, who serves on the board. Finding a site is only one of them. The board also must decide what programs to offer, how to raise funds and how to administer the center.

"We're all coming from different places," Davis said. "We need some kind of catalyst that will pull all of the pieces together."

The board is now focusing on selecting a site and determining what types of programs to offer.

The old hospital building is one option. May Greene School may be another once it no longer houses students. Other buildings may also become available for consideration.

"We don't have a lot of money," Maevers said.

A wish list of services to be housed in the center includes day care, financial assistance, educational programs, emergency food and shelter, community policing, fitness and health programs, recreation, transportation and volunteerism.

Davis said a day care is one of the first programs the group wants to offer.

A presentation Tuesday night by two consultants from St. Louis gave the Family Resource Center board food for thought. John Christy, a building consultant, and Jack Luer, an architect specializing in historic buildings, have surveyed the St. Francis Hospital building for possible use as senior housing.

Luer said the building is structurally sound. But making it into senior apartments might prove too costly, Luer and Christy said.

Christy said the building is worth preserving as a centerpiece for the south side and a catalyst for redevelopment in the neighborhood. If the building is demolished, "the neighborhood will continue to deteriorate," he said.

Some are calling for the city to demolish the building. Others want to see it renovated and put to good use.

Either option will be expensive. Luer and Christy said demolishing the building will cost $600,000, including an estimated $310,000 for removing asbestos and lead-based paint before the building is torn down.

The consultants cited an old figure -- $5.6 million -- for renovating the building for continued use.

But they told Family Resource Center board members that figure probably will rise. They are working on more exact cost estimates.

Luer and Christy suggested the board consider a blended use of the building, possibly using part of it for the day care and other services, and the remainder for housing.

Housing would ensure continued income to help pay the costs of renovating the building, they said.

Maevers said the board hadn't previously considered including housing in the plan.

The group hasn't started raising funds yet, Maevers and Davis said. First it wants to come up with a concrete list of services to be offered.

Depending on the facility used and what programs are chosen, a variety of grants or tax credits may be available to offset the costs. Eventually, a full-time manager would have to be hired to oversee the entire process, secure tenants and manage the facility.

"There are a lot of issues that we have to deal with," Davis said. "But it will be worth it if we can pull it together."

Drumming up support for the project will be necessary, she said.

"We are just going to have to explain to people why it's needed," she said. "That's a whole area of town that we need to recover."

Lack of transportation makes it difficult for south side residents to access services in other parts of the city, board members say. A "one-stop shopping" site would make those services accessible.

"The idea is not to duplicate anything in the community," said Kathy LeFebvre, a member of the board. "The idea was to bring the services to the people."