Meetings to take place over possible Cape County construction at Klaus Park

A set of meetings will be held at 12:30 and 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, at Klaus Park Pavilion No. 31 to discuss the possibility of construction on a portion of the 30-plus-acre plot of public land. The meetings are open to the public.

The Cape Girardeau County government is in the midst of its design phase for the county's new Emergency Operations Center. Currently, Klaus Park is the desired location for the facility. The park is home to numerous trails used for hiking and mountain biking.

Matt Smith, head of the youth mountain biking team SEMO Mudcats, helped organize the public meeting and has invited numerous county officials to attend. Smith is concerned the construction of the center would take away his team's — and others' — ability to practice and use the park, he said. The building location would be an open field in the park that's near the Interstate 55.

"With a large building and all of that equipment there, it's just going to hinder the park and not be a very good thing in that park," Smith said.

Smith said he and others he has spoken to believe the other county parks would be a better location because of their size and layout. He said the public was not properly informed of the possibility the building could go in Klaus Park.

The county received a federal grant earlier this year to cover the $5 million project. Charlie Herbst, associate commissioner for the 2nd District, said the project would take up about 1 acre of space when built. The building will bring the county's emergency management agency and its various equipment under one roof.

Cape Girardeau-based firm Dille Pollard Architecture has been tapped to design the project. Herbst said the architect is still evaluating how the building would aesthetically fit in the park, as well as how utilities would work.

Herbst said he will attend both meetings to answer questions and provide information.

This is not the first time a public meeting has been called because of possible changes to Klaus Park.

In 2016, a plan was created to possibly harvest around 60 trees in the park — some reports suggested as much as 300 could be harvested — to help pay maintenance costs for county parks. The plan drew backlash from park users and a public meeting was held. The plan was eventually scrapped.

At that meeting, Presiding Commissioner Clint Tracy and county parks superintendent Bryan Sander apologized for not informing the public.