GSA WANTS NEW COURTHOUSE CLOSE TO OLD

The government wants to build a new courthouse within walking distance of the Federal Building in Cape Girardeau's downtown.

That rules out the old St. Francis Hospital site on Good Hope, said Jim Ogden of the General Services Administration office in Kansas City.

Ogden said the government likes to put federal buildings near each other because it allows for more personal communication between government agencies.

"It is really helpful for them to be able to talk to each other," he said.

"Go to St. Louis or Kansas City and you will find multiple federal buildings within a few blocks of each other," said Ogden.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Defender's offices in Cape Girardeau are currently housed in rented quarters. Once a new courthouse is built, those offices would be moved into the existing Federal Building.

Ogden said those agencies work with the courts and the U.S. attorney's office. It would be more convenient for those agencies if the new courthouse is within walking distance of the Federal Building, he said.

The GSA proposed building a new courthouse within a two-block residential neighborhood just south of the Federal Building.

But Ogden said that location likely will be ruled out because of opposition from residents and property owners in the neighborhood.

The GSA could rule out that site by the end of the month and then start looking at other sites.

Ogden said another site could be selected this spring.

Ogden said three blocks adjacent to the Federal Building are prime sites for the new courthouse. Two blocks along Sprigg Street, between Independence and Bellevue, also have been studied.

Ogden said those sites appear to have willing sellers.

The sites immediately adjacent to the Federal Building are on the north side of the 300 and 400 blocks of Broadway, and the block immediately west of the building, which includes Christ Episcopal Church at 10 N. Fountain.