Mural panel approves Gen. McKee portrait to Wall of Fame but lacks funds

Old Town Cape's mural committee has approved plans to add the portrait of the late Gen. Seth McKee to the Missouri Wall of Fame in downtown Cape Girardeau.

The committee, which met late last month, also concluded the portrait could be done for $7,000, said local artist and committee member Craig Thomas.

But the exact cost of the project has not be finalized, and Old Town Cape's board of directors has not voted on the issue, said Marla Mills, executive director of the downtown revitalization group.

There also is an issue of funding.

"We still don't have the money," Mills said.

Gen. Seth J. McKee, right, commander of the North American Air Defense Command, presented a souvenir to President Richard M. Nixon during Nixon's visit to NORAD headquarters underground complex in Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1971.Southeast Missourian file

McKee, a four-star general who grew up in Cape Girardeau, died in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Dec. 26 at the age of 100.

Friends and family, along with American Legion Post 63 in Cape Girardeau, have called for McKee's portrait to be added to the Wall of Fame.

The American Legion made the request in a letter last month to the Cape Girardeau City Council, Downtown Merchants Association, Old Town Cape and the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

A resolution adopted by the veterans organization states McKee became "a highly decorated and respected military leader, not only nationally but worldwide."

It adds he was "one of the fathers" of the U.S. Air Force.

Two other generals -- Omar Bradley and John J. Pershing -- are pictured on the Wall of Fame, the resolution notes. Those two generals were not natives of Cape Girardeau.

The Wall of Fame, painted on the floodwall in 1995, depicts 47 famous people who were born in Missouri or achieved fame while living in the state.

Mayor Harry Rediger said Wednesday that Old Town Cape doesn't have the money to undertake the project. Rediger said he doesn't believe the city should pay for it.

At this point, no organization or person has offered to fund it, the mayor said.

Thomas has offered to paint the portrait on the wall between author Samuel Clemens and Bradley. Thomas has suggested the artwork itself could be done for about $5,000.

But Mills said there likely would be additional costs associated with paying BNSF Railway to provide a flagman while the work was being done on the floodwall mural, which is next to the train tracks.

According to downtown leaders, approval by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should not be needed because the project involves additional painting on a mural that previously garnered acceptance by the Corps.

Once funding is in place, city staff still would have to sign off on the project before work could begin, Mills said.

Mills and Rediger said the project does not need council approval.

Cape Girardeau has a number of murals that were funded through sponsorships secured by the River Heritage Mural Association.

But the association disbanded five or six years ago, according to Mills.

Old Town Cape agreed to take over maintenance of the existing murals but has no budget to paint new ones or add to existing murals, Mills said when the request first surfaced publicly last month.

Rediger said he would like to see a mural program re-established in Cape Girardeau.

Meanwhile, city and downtown leaders continue to search for funding to add McKee's portrait to the Wall of Fame.

Mills and Rediger offered no timeline to bring the project to fruition.

"It is still a ways off," Rediger said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641