OPEN HOUSE, CONCERT AT OLD ST. VINCENT'S

The Colonial Cape Girardeau Foundation has invited the public to tour the property it plans to transform into a Civil War museum and cultural arts center.

The open house will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday at St. Vincent's Seminary, 201 Morgan Oak. Visitors will be free to roam the grounds and volunteers will be on hand to answer questions.

The Pittsburgh-based American Wind Symphony Orchestra, which will perform Saturday night at Capaha Park, will give a mini-concert on the seminary grounds beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday. The concert, to take place on the handball court north of the buildings, is sponsored by the Southeast Missourian.

After years of trying, the foundation bought the seminary earlier this year for $700,000, completing the transaction April 28. The purchase was accomplished with a $600,000 loan from the seller, the Provincial Administration of Vincentian Fathers of St. Louis.

Built in 1843 and used as both a college and more recently a seminary by the Vicentians, the 20-acre property now is formally referred to by the foundation as Old St. Vincent's College.

Officials said the name change from the customary St. Vincent's Seminary reflects the property's original and more historic use.

Foundation president Loretta Schneider has been named its full-time director, a position vacant since David Murphy resigned last fall. Schneider will be in charge of developing the property's museum and cultural arts center.

Schneider has resigned her position as assistant director of the Career Planning and Placement Office at Southeast Missouri State University.

She said the open house is an answer to the many requests the foundation has received to tour the grounds.

"We are anxious for the people of Cape Girardeau and the region to have a good look, inside and out, at the magnificent piece of property which has played a significant role in the history of our city," she said.

Volunteers have been cleaning the entire property to get it ready for the open house, and a leak in the roof is being fixed. "There was fallen plaster here and there," said Mary Ann Robertson, chairman of the foundation board.

"The parts of building we are not using immediately will remain a little scruffy until we get to them," she added.

The electrical system will require some immediate work before tenants can use the facility. Two tenants plan to move in in the fall.

The emphasis on creating a cultural arts center is new, Robertson said, but has always been at the back of the foundation members' minds.

"We want to share the building with whoever needs it," she said, adding:

"And we want to make sure the cultural impact is there. We'll be using it for a lot of cultural events."

The college will be open for activities and visitors following the open house.

Robertson said opening Old St. Vincent's College again is "like a dream that's finally come true."

For information about the college, phone 339-1992.