GSA WON'T PURSUE PREFERRED SITES

Although an official decision won't be made until later this month, General Services Administration officials indicated Thursday they will back away from their two preferred downtown sites for a new federal building in Cape Girardeau.

Approximately 170 residents attended a public hearing at the Show Me Center Thursday night concerning the two blocks, both of which boast a number of historic homes. Most of those in attendance voiced opposition to demolishing either block.

A total of eight blocks are under consideration by the GSA. Attention now will focus on the remaining six.

"Our decision is that in any of those eight blocks, if a landowner decides he doesn't want to sell to us, we will eliminate that block from consideration," said Tom Walker, assistant regional administrator for public building services for the GSA.

The two sites discussed Thursday are located between the 300 and 400 blocks of Themis and Independence. Both are adjacent to the existing federal building at the corner of Broadway and Fountain.

While the federal government can force an owner to sell, Walker said the GSA in this region has never done so if the owner genuinely wishes to keep his property. However, if an owner just holds out for more money, the condemnation route will be taken.

Of the 31 people who addressed Walker and four other GSA representatives, all but three voiced opposition to the primary sites.

Barbara Port, who lives in a 105-year-old house in the targeted area, said the neighborhood and its buildings compose the historical heart of the city. Area home owners, she said, are the caretakers of that history.

"We own the house but it is not ours," Port said. "We feel we are keeping it in trust. It is an ongoing piece of history."

Speaker after speaker echoed those sentiments concerning not just the area's historical presence but its continuing importance to the downtown area.

"Fifty years ago the federal government came to town ready to wreck our Common Pleas Courthouse to build a new federal building on the site," said Tom Neumeyer, a member of the city council and a downtown resident. "Thanks to an uprising by the people of the city, this integral part of our heritage was preserved and stands proudly.

"Now, a half-century later, the federal government comes to town ready to wreck a historic, thriving neighborhood to build a new federal building on the site. Another uprising of the people of this city will hopefully again succeed."

David Knight, a downtown business owner, suggested the 400 block of Broadway, site of the H&H Building. That site is located across the street in the block west of the existing federal building.

"This particular site we feel meets all the criteria," Knight said. The GSA is looking for a site which is close to the existing building, economically feasible to obtain and easily accessible.

Knight said he and others have talked to most of the landowners in that block and said none oppose selling.

John Boardman of the Downtown Merchants Association said his organization also endorses the H&H site.

Citing the historical value of the H&H Building and the fact that it is still in use, one speaker preferred the land on Independence just west of City Hall.

Thad Bullock, owner of the vacant Marquette Hotel on Broadway, offered his site. However, Walker said the costs involved with demolition and relocating the equipment of television and radio stations which also occupy the block preclude that site.

Support for selecting the old St. Francis Hospital site on Good Hope was voiced by two speakers.

"That southeast part of town is the one part of town that needs the most help of all," said Dennis Meyer, referring to the revitalizing effect a federal building would have on the area.

Although the site is not within the GSA's focus area, Walker said "that is not a make or break item."