ON THE HORIZON: CAPE GIRARDEAU'S CULTURAL COMING OF AGE

Cape Girardeau, Florence of the Mississippi River Valley? Maybe not, but plans unfolding on a number of fronts are encouraging to supporters of the arts.

"The arts in Cape Girardeau are right on the verge of exploding," says Greg Jones, executive director of the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri.

Jones' own organization is responsible for part of the frisson over recent developments punctuated last week by Southeast Missouri State University's purchase of St. Vincent Seminary and College for use as a visual and performing arts school.

Jones, an artist who became executive director of the Arts Council last August, began by moving it downtown at the first opportunity. "That was very purposeful," he said. "We wanted to be part of the community. The Arts Council believes the future of Cape is downtown. That's where we see the growth and it's where people like to walk around."

In the new building, which formerly housed John Boardman's art gallery, the Arts Council has been able to expand its offerings to two shows per month. A second display space called the Lorimier Gallery showcases local folk art as a complement to Gallery 100.

In the planning stage is a new fine arts festival. Consultants have recommended starting the festival only if a volunteer coordinator can be identified rather than having the Arts Council take on the extra responsibility.

Finding that person would enable the festival to move forward, Jones said.

The Arts Council also is investigating the feasibility of purchasing the Broadway Theatre for use by community organizations and the schools. The theater, owned by the Kerasotes company in Springfield, Ill., has been closed for a year and is for sale.

The theater could be purchased in one of three different ways, Jones says:

-- By a nonprofit group using grants, donations and ticket sales.

-- By a for-profit concern, a company or organization large enough to need the sizable tax credits available.

-- Through community development block grants.

Cape Girardeau's community theater group, The River City Players, would be one of the beneficiaries of such an asset. The group currently has no home and has been performing dinner theaters at different locations.

Chuck Ross, the organization's president, is enthusiastic about the seminary purchase and the possibilities of having a community theater space. "I think it's terrific," he said. "Anything we can get into Cape, I think we need more of it."

Ann Swanson, a longtime member of the River City Players board and a former president, has a more guarded reaction. "A lot of possibilities are on the horizon," she said. "It's a question of how many are things that will have practical outcomes. Unfortunately, I see a lot of these things as pipe dreams and pie in the sky."

The Broadway theater could be used for high school performances, a classic film series and to present musical performers from outside the city, Jones said.

"The Arts Council would be a big user and we would encourage expansion of the community theater, perhaps to include a children's theater," he said.

Another ingredient in this cultural mix is the City of Roses Festival, inaugurated last year and set to return in August with 30 bands performing at various venues over two days. Bill Shivelbine, the festival's president, says he considered calling the Southeast Missourian's Speakout line and yelling "Yahoo" when he heard about the university's acquisition of the seminary.

"What a boon to the area that will be," he said.

Shivelbine is sure the festival committee and the university will be talking about working together in the future and he is enthused about the city's cultural prospects overall.

"What a shot in the arm this is going to be to the community," he said. "It seemed like just a few years ago there was absolutely nothing going on."

Jones credits Southeast President Dale Nitzschke with improving the city's cultural climate.

"If it wasn't for Dale Nitzschke it wouldn't have happened," Jones said. "It takes someone like that coming into the community and saying, `This is the next step.'"

That next step for Southeast on the eve of its 125th anniversary is to champion development of the arts in the community, Nitzschke says.

"One of the signs of a mature university is when it has become very powerful in the arts, that it is influential in bringing the arts to people and elevating understanding of the arts."

He says the idea of the River Campus embraces the city's cultural and economic growth as well. "It's a synergistic kind of thing where the students have the finest opportunities and we provide for the same students an opportunity to work with downtown merchants and the downtown government on festivals encompassing that whole area."

The vision is "not only futuristic, it's do-able," Nitzschke said. "It will generate enthusiasm well beyond the university for people to become involved in Cape Girardeau, to buy property in Cape Girardeau and to see opportunities for economic growth here."

He says his Board of Regents views the university as "a driving force to create and grow opportunities for the broader community.

"They're brave souls. And they can see the future better than any other board I have worked for."

Many universities have separated their campuses as Southeast intends to do. He says it's "an effort to reach out to where the institution can do the most good."

The positive impact the campus will have on the south side of Cape Girardeau will extend to the west once the new Mississippi River Bridge is in place, Nitzschke said.

The things the university, the Arts Council and other organizations are doing will enhance each other to improve the quality of life in Cape Girardeau, Nitzschke said.

"It's almost like the stars are coming together."

The Broadway Theater was built in the early 1920s and once presented vaudeville performances. Now owned by the Kerasotes company of Springfield, Ill, the theater has been closed for a year. The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri is investigating ways to buy the theater for use by community groups and the schools.

The Southeast Missouri Arts Council moved from an ill-fitting space on Sprigg Street to John Boardman's former art gallery at Independence and Spanish streets. Greg Jones, who became executive director of the council last August, wants to initiate a new fine arts festival in 1999. A new gallery showcasing local folk crafts has been added to the existing Gallery 100.

The City of Roses Festival will return in August. Now in its second year, the festival offers two days of diverse music at various downtown Cape Girardeau locations.

Southeast Missouri State University announced Wednesday the purchase of St. Vincent's College and Seminary for the purpose of creating a River Campus. The campus will house a new school of visual and performing arts and a new performing arts center. The University Museum also will be relocated to the campus.

BROADWAY THEATRE: THEN AND NOW

1921: A group of Cape Girardeau business men pooled their resources in 1921 and built the Broadway Theater, 805 Broadway. Its inaugural performance was a showing of "The Sheik," starring Rudolph Valentino.

Inside 1921: S.E. Brady owned the Broadway Theater at one point but later sold it to Fox West Coast Theatres. Fox, in turn, sold it in 1960 to the Shirley Theaters Corp., which also owned the Rialto Theater.

Nine years later, both theaters wre acquired by Kerasotas Theaters of Springfield, Ill., and after renovations, the Broadway Theatre was reopened in early 1970 with a new spelling and showing of "Funny Girl."

1998: The theater has been closed for a year.

The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri is investigating ways to buy the theater for use by community groups and the schools.