OLD HOTEL MAY BE SOLD

The Marquette Hotel, which has been a fixture at the corner of Broadway and Fountain since 1928, may once again look like the majestic structure of its elegant past.

The Marquette, with its Spanish-style architecture, terra cotta facings and balconies, has been vacant for more than a decade. It was considered one of the finest hotels in the Midwest when it opened Nov. 17, 1928.

If a group in Houston, Texas, has its way, the 151-room hotel could be restored to its former glory.

The group has expressed an interest in purchasing the building from owner Thad Bullock, said Tom Neumeyer, a city councilman and downtown business owner.

"They've got an agreement, but nothing has been signed yet," said Neumeyer. "It looks like a good prognosis," he said.

Neumeyer said the agreement has been reached "long-distance," and the prospective buyers will be in Cape Girardeau next week to finalize the deal.

The building would be restored for use as a hotel with longer-term lease units possibly included, Neumeyer said.

"There may be some other usages," he said. "I'm sure there will be a fine restaurant. I would hope there'd be a coffee shop."

Neumeyer's father and grandfather both worked in the H and H Building when it was Missouri Utilities, he said, and often went to the Marquette on their coffee breaks.

"There was probably more business conducted and consummated in that coffee shop than in any boardroom in town," he said.

Reopening the hotel would be another shot in the arm for revitalizing downtown Cape Girardeau after Southeast Missouri State University's purchase of St. Vincent's Seminary, Neumeyer said.

"I and so many others are just ecstatic with these developments," he said.

The hotel was shut down in July 1971, for safety reasons, by the Missouri Division of Health.

The six-story building has stood all but vacant during the past decade. Cape Girardeau's proposed budget for fiscal 1999 includes $500,000 to help pay for demolition, if necessary, of the Marquette and the old St. Francis Hospital at Good Hope and Pacific.

In February 1981, Walter Parr, a Paducah, Ky., businessman, announced plans to renovate the then-53-year-old hotel, along with plans for construction of a high-rise condominium on the hotel property.

Parr had just completed a $4.5 million renovation of the historic Irvin Cobb Hotel in Paducah, converting that structure into 104 apartment units.

Parr's death a short time after the announcement was made ended the renovation and condominium project.

In 1981, members of a Southeast Missouri State University architecture class presented a report to the Historic Preservation Commission, urging the city and residents to take steps to preserve the building.

The report said the hotel was structurally sound, could be saved and would serve as a catalyst for revitalizing the entire downtown area.

Suggested use of the hotel included apartments on the upper floors and restoration of the lobby and mezzanine floors for a restaurant and other shops.

The Marquette was constructed at a cost of less than $200,000. It contained 325,000 bricks, including 108,000 face bricks. Approximately 121 tons of steel beams and 2,500 barrels of cement were used during the construction. Each of the floors is made of poured concrete.