Leadership Cape groups pitch project ideas

Members of the Leadership Cape class of 2016 took the stage at the Isle Casino Cape Girardeau Event Center during the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce First Friday Coffee to propose projects and events designed to improve the Cape Girardeau area.

Leadership Cape is an annual program offered by the chamber. It is designed to help local professionals build leadership skills and discover what Cape Girardeau has to offer.

“Whether they’ve lived here their entire life, or they’re new to Cape, it’s a great learning experience,” said Kim Voelker, membership development specialist at the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce.

The projects are intended to give participants experience working in groups with people of all types of backgrounds and personalities.

This year’s projects included a Cape Girardeau-themed mini-golf arena, an adult recreation center, fiber-optic internet throughout the Cape Girardeau area, a farm-to-table fundraiser to benefit local charities and a zip-line park. Several teams saw potential in the new sports complex under construction along Interstate 55 and incorporated it into their plans.

Play Through Cape

The first team to present, The 7 Irons, created Play Through Cape as a way to offer a new activity to Cape Girardeau and its visitors while offering a tour of its history. Each hole of the 18-hole mini-golf course would highlight an attraction of Cape Girardeau.

Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Splash, Fort D and Discovery Playhouse are among the attractions Play Through Cape would feature.

The goal, The 7 Irons said, is to give locals and visitors something fun to do while encouraging them to explore other areas of the city.

The course would be off I-55, exit 99, where the sports complex is being built. The golf course is one phase of a three-phase plan of what the team sees as a family-attraction center that eventually would expand to include activities such as bumper boats and Go-Karts.

The Arc

Team Arc presented its idea of The Arc: an adult recreation center offering a variety of activities specifically for the older-than-18 crowd.

Likened to Dave & Busters, The Arc would take it a step further by including not only arcade games, but laser tag, rock-climbing walls, trampolines, escape rooms and space for live entertainment, the team said.

Income would be generated not only during the evening hours, but through team-building activities and educational programs offered during the day.

Team Arc expects The Arc to bring in customers from an 80-mile radius. While a property could be developed for the center, Team Arc identified the old Thorngate building and the old Sears building near Town Plaza as potential locations.

Fiber optics

Team Awesomeness proposed bringing fiber-optic internet to the entire Cape Girardeau region.

By having broadband available, the region would attract more jobs and create a more productive workforce, Team Awesomeness said. Also, the region would lessen the risk of losing young professionals to better-connected cities.

The team proposed funding the project through federal matching grants, which could cover up to 70 percent of the cost. Funding also can be made by private local utility companies or by existing taxes within the community, the team said.

Farm-to-Table Fundraiser

The River City Builders want to bring a signature event to downtown Cape Girardeau that would attract visitors to art galleries, businesses and attractions the area offers while highlighting local agriculture.

A menu was created that focused only on locally sourced produce and meats. Crispy pork belly, creamy roasted carrot soup, braised lamb shank, celery root and potato potage and cardamom apple crisp are a sampling of the menus they plan to offer.

Using the services of downtown businesses and funded through a sponsorship program, the fundraiser would support the Cape Riverfront Market to assist with the EBT matching program and the Cape Marketeers Club.

Hang Time Zip Lines

Team TNT wants to transform the outdoor adventure opportunities in Cape Girardeau with a multi-station, tree-to-tree, zip-line experience.

With little competition, low initial costs and a high return on investment, Team TNT said Hang Time Zip Lines would fill a gap the region has for outdoor activities.

Team TNT said the business would best be set up as a 501c3 not-for-profit, which could partner with the city or the county.

The team recommended locations such as a local park, the Cape Rock region, Red Star or the forthcoming indoor sports complex.

Though the proposals are fictional, past Leadership Cape projects have been picked up by other entities and carried through fruition, Voelker said.

bbrown@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630