KLAUS OUT FOR JUVENILE CENTER

JACKSON -- Klaus Park has been removed from a list of potential sites for a planned state juvenile facility.

Cape Girardeau County Commissioner Larry Bock said officials with the Missouri Division of Youth Services suggested the site be removed from the county's application because of opposition from homeowners in the surrounding area.

"We decided it was best not to consider it at this point," Bock said. "The state said it would be better that we not consider it."

Two other Cape County sites are still on the table: a five-acre site at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, owned by the city of Cape Girardeau, with a price tag of $45,000; and a five-acre site owned by 630 Corp. on South Sprigg south of Southern Expressway. Cost of that site is $50,000.

A public hearing to gather input on the two remaining sites will be at 1 p.m. today at Cape Girardeau City Hall.

The Klaus Park site would have been offered on a low-cost, long-term lease. The city of Jackson had agreed to run utilities to the site at no cost.

Pat Doyen, assistant director of DYS, said, "I think it would be more correct to say the community removed Klaus Park from its application."

"The opposition was just too great for the state to consider it," said Mitch Robinson, the county's industrial recruiter.

County commissioners expressed doubt that DYS will choose a site in the county since the free land is no longer available.

"They're not going to pay $9,000 or $10,000 an acre," said Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones. "Cape County is not going to get that juvenile center."

"That's pretty clear," agreed Bock.

Bock said commissioners didn't see any sense in "forcing the issue" since residents didn't want the facility in their neighborhood.

Don Harper, whose land adjoins Klaus Park, said he was "just ecstatic" when he learned the park was no longer being considered as a site for the facility.

"I sent a copy of our petition to them with 240-some names on it," Harper said. "I didn't figure the state would want it" knowing of neighbors' opposition.

Cape County "still might have a chance of getting it" at one of the other sites, he said.

Commissioners had originally hoped to build a new county juvenile detention center adjoining the state facility and add amenities to the park area surrounding the complex.

"I really thought that was just an absolutely marvelous plan," Jones said.

Harper said he'd still like to see the county make improvements to Klaus Park such as adding shelters or pavilions.

"I think it would just be a wonderful place to take some time and effort and spend some money on," he said.

Robinson said today's public hearing will include an overview of the facility and an opportunity for residents' comments or questions.

Communities that have applied for the two, 20-bed detention centers include East Prairie, Scott City, Chaffee, Kennett, Malden, Dexter, Poplar Bluff, Sikeston, Cape Girardeau-Jackson, Wynona, Thayer, Cabool, Houston, Salem, Cuba, Waynesville, Bonne Terre and Fredericktown.