NEW LOCATION MAY FINALLY END BUS STATION HEADACHE

Greyhound Bus Co.'s station agent in Cape Girardeau said Wednesday he hopes the bus company's newest stop here will enjoy better fortune than past stops.

On Jan. 15, Greyhound opened a full-service bus station in Cape Girardeau, nearly six months after the former station closed.

The new station is at Don's Store 24, a convenience store and gas station at the corner of Morgan Oak and Sprigg. The store's owner and now Greyhound agent is Donald Caldwell.

"I've sold quite a few tickets so far," said Caldwell. "Hopefully, it will work out here. I think it will."

Caldwell said he was aware of Greyhound's difficulties in securing a suitable site for a bus station when he discussed the prospect with bus company officials early in January.

"I kept trying to figure out why they were having such a tough time getting an agent," he said.

Unlike other sites considered for the station, Don's Store 24 is properly zoned for a bus stop and is a self-sufficient company for which the bus station would be only a supplemental business.

"I think the problem with it before is that it was run as a stand-alone business," Caldwell said.

"It can't run on its own. It just doesn't pay enough to have it stand on its own without another business."

Caldwell said that although the station has operated from his store for only two weeks, already it's helped business. The store serves hot food and sells other food items. It also has seating available inside.

"It's a little early to tell, but I'm sure it's helped my business some," he said. "The Greyhound people tell me the busiest time will be about April through September, so it should pick up a little more in the spring."

As a full-service agent, Caldwell handles Greyhound ticket sales for destinations throughout the country. He also handles Greyhound freight.

A total of seven stops are made daily at Cape Girardeau, with southbound buses stopping at 11 a.m., 3:50 p.m. and 8:18 p.m. Northbound buses stop at 3:48 a.m., 11:55 a.m., 3:20 p.m. and 11:05 p.m.

The last location for the Cape Girardeau bus terminal, the Spanky's convenience store at 353 S. Kingshighway, closed July 22 because the site wasn't properly zoned.

It was the fourth bus station here to open and close since March 1990. That was when Union Bus Depot at 16 N. Frederick, which operated the station since 1947, closed during a nationwide Greyhound bus strike.

After the Union Bus Depot closed, a new station opened at a convenience store at 1101 William but was closed five months later after neighbors complained of traffic problems and noise.

The bus station reopened Sept. 4 in a renovated building across from Kelley Transportation Co. on Sprigg Street. That station then closed in June.

A month later, Spanky's reopened the bus station July 18. But only five days later, the facility was closed because the site was improperly zoned. The new bus station is properly zoned for commercial use.