Leadership Cape members present ideas for city

This month's Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce First Friday Coffee featured five presentations from the Leadership Cape class of 2015.

Leadership Cape, an annual program offered by the chamber of commerce, is designed to help local professionals build leadership skills, as well as the opportunity to discover what Cape Girardeau has to offer.

The presentations featured proposed projects and events the five teams said would improve the Cape Girardeau area, including an elevated event space overlooking the Mississippi River; a community center with tools for completing projects; a River City Center that would provide space for events and displays; a website to help attract businesses to Cape Girardeau; and a monthly downtown event called Thursday Night Live.

The Pier Girardot

The first team to present, The Party Crashers, pitched its idea for an elevated event space with views of the Mississippi River. Some of the amenities would include a lookout pier; retractable clear panels for fall and winter; an outdoor kitchen; dance floor and PA system, partitions for reducing and expanding space; and it would be an open air venue during the spring and summer.

The Pier Girardot, the group proposed, would be located on a city parking lot downtown across from Hutson's Fine Furniture and also would have parking available underneath the structure. The space would be rented for weddings, concerts, conventions, reunions and other events. The funding could come from public sources, or potentially from a business that has a private lot available.

Marquette Synergy Center

The second team, Senergey7, presented a plan for a "maker space," which was described as a community center with tools. The team proposed the Marquette Synergy Center be placed in the Marquette Center. It would serve as a location where the public would gather to share resources and knowledge, work on projects, network and build.

The first floor would include a wood/carpentry shop, technician bays, a wheels area and a machine shop. The second floor would have paint booths, a lounge, learning instruction space, a technology and engineering center and an artistry and craft space. The basement would consist of storage lockers, large and smaller storage cages and a material handling closet.

River City Center

An idea for a multiuse River City Center that would be constructed near Interstate 55 was presented by the third team, Apex. The center would feature a large expo hall, meeting and conference space and a kitchen for catering events. The center also would house national heritage displays and collections, and a theater would host musical, dance and other performances. An adjoining, independently operated hotel would have 200 rooms. The team said the space also would serve as a place for weddings and other special occasions.

SEMO Epicenter

Team Epicenter presented how technology can be used as a way to attract businesses to the Cape Girardeau area. The group created a website, thesemoepicenter.com, to provide information about the city's features, such as locations to construct businesses, educational opportunities, real estate details and transportation. A video that gives an aerial tour of Cape Girardeau can be found on the website, or a link can be sent to a phone by texting "chamber" to 91212.

Thursday Night Live

The final team pitched an idea for a Thursday Night Live event that would be held in downtown Cape Girardeau on the third Thursday of May through October. The event would feature local musicians, artists and not-for-profit organizations, as well as activities for children. The team referenced Jefferson City's successful version of Thursday Night Live, which boasts 8,000 to 10,000 people per event. The group said by pitching the concept of the idea to area businesses, more than $2,000 of in kind donations were pledged. The event wouldn't be used to make money for a specific entity and would be funded with sponsorships.

klamb@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

777 N. Main St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.