IDEAS FOR CONSERVATION CENTER OUTGROWING BOUNDARIES OF PARK

Even though the layout of a $4.7 million conservation center for Cape Girardeau is still in the talking stages, it has already begun to outgrow the boundaries of North Cape Girardeau County Park.

Some city and Southeast Missouri State University officials would like to link the proposed center with existing trails and plans for trails around Cape Girardeau.

"We really can expand on the nature center and go beyond the park," said Ken Eftink, development services coordinator for Cape Girardeau.

This came from discussions among officials from a number of local and state agencies who are meeting this week at the state Department of Conservation's office at the park. They are trading ideas with architects and designers about how to formulate not only the buildings, but the concept of the conservation center.

Eftink and others talked about the possibilities of using city bicycle trails to make connections with the conservation center, which is currently slated for completion in September 2001. Further connections could be made to take trails as far as the university's proposed River Campus.

"This is creating an opportunity for partnerships," Eftink said.

Architects from Peckham and Wright of Columbia and the Washington, D.C., design firms of Aldrich Pears Associates and the Portico Group explained their ideas for the conservation center to individuals from the Conservation Department, university and county and city governments on Tuesday.

Some of the proposals were:

* Making a trial of up to one mile along the northeast corner of the park.

* Adding trees and shrubs to enhance the view and shield the park from highway and road noise.

* Changing the pond closest to the present entrance into a natural stream.

Most proposals aim to make the revamped park an educational experience, but without tearing up the existing environment to do it.

This appeals to Dr. Stephen Overmann.

"This can be a living lab for study," said Overmann, who directs the university's environmental science program.

He envisions getting his students out of the classroom and into the park not only to study ornithology and mammalogy, but to teach it as well. Biology majors, education majors and others could instruct groups of K-12 students as they visit the conservation center, he said.

The university has already assumed the responsibility for providing a full-time coordinator of internships, along with equipment and materials for laboratories and nature study.

The location of a 19,000 square-foot facility is still being debated. Designers presented two options, with the center located either along the existing nature trail or the proposed one.

Gerald Jones is glad to see the conservation center finally taking some shape.

"This was an idea generated by us, and brought to the Conservation Department," said Jones, Cape Girardeau County's presiding commissioner.