OLD TOWN CAPE ADDS PROJECTS, LOGO

Marsha Toll, owner of the Bellevue Bed and Breakfast, was named Old Town Cape Volunteer of the Year, and Old Town Cape committees established goals for the coming year at the group's banquet held over the weekend.

Old Town board president Judith Anne Lang presented the award to Toll, chairwoman of the group's promotions committee.

Toll received a glass brick with the inscription "Laying the Foundation, Brick-by-Brick," in reference to the city's Main Street revitalization program.

Old Town Cape is part of the national Main Street program for revitalization of the downtown area.

It was the group's first banquet and first presentation of the award. The group hopes to make the banquet an annual affair.

Besides the award, a new Old Town Cape Logo, drawn by downtown artist Don Greenwood, was unveiled to the group.

Goals set

At the meeting, various committees presented their goals and proposed projects for the year.

"The information compiled by all four Main Street committees, and presented during the annual banquet, will be used to guide a variety of revitalization projects," said Catherine Dunlap, executive director of Old Town's Main Street program.

The design committee, headed by Dr. Steven Hoffman, of Southeast Missouri State University, will develop a walking tour, present retail window awards and offer a streetscape plan. The committee will encourage good designs compatible with historic features of the downtown area.

The organization committee, headed by businessman Ted Coalter, planned the banquet and meeting and will soon publish a newsletter. The committee will also continue its "Night on Old Town Cape" program and the "Volunteer of the Year Award."

The promotions committee will develop a "Downtown Walker's Club," weekly Saturday downtown concerts, a "100 Best Things about Old Town Cape" contest and a special student passport program for the downtown area.

At the meeting, it was announced that Michael Schroeder, a landscape artist, and Dale Helmich, an economic and community consultant, will visit the city next week.

Main Street visitors

Schroeder of Minneapolis and Helmich of the Downtown Professionals Network will meet with the city's representatives about the framework of the city's Main Street project.

They will interview people from the city's Downtown Neighborhood Association, Downtown Merchants Association, city planners and engineers and others.

The Schroeder and Helmich visits are being presented by the Missouri Main Street Program, and the Missouri Department of Economic Development, and will include on-site visits in March, June and July.

The Economic Restructuring Committee of Old Town Cape, headed by local chamber president John Mehner, will assess the physical, market and economic conditions of the Main Street area, which includes the downtown area, Upper Broadway to West End Boulevard, and the Haarig Area, to the Mississippi River Bridge, including the St. Vincent's campus, owned by Southeast Missouri State University.

More than 50 people attended the banquet at Port Cape Girardeau restaurant. Southeast Missourian Editor Joe Sullivan was the guest speaker.