ON THE MOVE: CITY CONSTRUCTION DOWN, BUT '97 COULD RANK AS ONE OF TOP FOUR YEARS EVER

Three months ago Richard Murray would have been happy with the prospect of $30 million per year in Cape Girardeau construction totals.

Now, he's looking at a $40 million year, which would mark the fourth time in five years that permits issued were valued over the $40 million mark.

"The first two quarters of this year were dismal," said Murray, inspections services director with the Inspection Services Division for the City of Cape Girardeau. "The weather the first half of the year was not favorable to construction."

At the mid-year mark, only 119 permits, valued at $10.3 million, had been issued. Half of those permits were for property demolitions.

"A lot has happened since then," said Murray. "We had a great third quarter."

The permit office issued a total of 176 permits, valued at more than $13 million in July, August and September.

"I'm hoping we can climb back into the $40 million category for 1997," said Murray Friday. "I think the fourth quarter will make us rebound."

Murray is pinning his hopes on more single-family home permits and a commercial project or two which may be forthcoming.

"We've been on a climb the past eight years," said Murray. "Our final figures may not be the statistics of the past two years, but we should be close."

Permits are up from a year ago at the three-quarter mark, said Murray. "We have issued a total of 402 permits in 1997, but the projects haven't been as large, totaling about $23.5 million.

During the first three quarters of 1996, a total of 381 permits had been issued, one of them a $7.5 million project at Lone Start Industries. with an overall value of $35.1 million.

The third quarter of 1977 produced some solid statistics.

Included in the 176 permits for July, August and September were no less than five projects of $500,000 or more, including plans for a Super 8 Motel, at a cost of $1.4 million, to be build on North Kingshighway.

The largest project of the quarter was a $2.2 million permit for the new Cape Bible Chapel-Sanctuary, to be located at 2911 Kage Road. Other major developments included a $750,000 permit for a Commerce Bank branch at 1800 Cape la Croix; a $776,800 project by the Bank of Missouri, at 1622 N. Kingshighway, and an addition to St. Vincent's Church at 751 Forest.

A total of 19 single-family home permits were issued during the third quarter, in the amount of $2.9 million, including one four-bedroom home at a cost of more than $384,000.

Also under construction was a facility to house Hollywood Video, on Siemers Drive in Cape West Business Park, and a $299,000 pediatrics relocation project at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

Nonbuilding construction throughout Cape Girardeau could be major this year. Nonbuilding includes streets and highways and bridges. A large portion of work on the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge -- piers and approaches -- that wil span the Mississippi River between Cape Girardeau, Mo., and East Cape Girardeau, Ill., will be completed.

No less three educational structures which require no city permits, will add more than $15 million to the year's total. Notre Dame High School is taking shape at its location on Route K, and groundbreaking is scheduled next week for a new Cape Girardeau Public School District elementary school. Also scheduled to start this fall is construction on the new Cape Girardeau Vocational-Technical School.

Another big project that doesn't require a city permit, is the expansion of the Procter & Gamble Paper Products facility north of Cape Girardeau. Some construction on the proposed $350 million expansion will get under way this year.

Two major developments -- a $12 million wood chip project and a $4 million grain operation -- at the Southeast Missouri Port Authority adds another $16 million to the area's construction totals. Both projects are under way, and will be completed next year.

Public investment at the two-county -- Cape Girardeau and Scott -- totals about $17 million.