Parks and Recreation advisory board details progress on Capaha Park projects

Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Advisory Board members and city officials discussed current and future parks projects at the board’s monthly meeting Monday night at the Osage Centre.

Updates to already approved, ongoing projects were given by Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation director Julia Jones, parks manager Brock Davis and recreation division manager Penny Williams.

Many projects in Capaha Park are already underway, including the nearly-completed construction of a splash pad, for which Jones said park visitors should expect to see landscaping installed in April.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new, aquatic attraction is scheduled for May 1.

Additional planned Capaha Park projects include an improved bandshell, which has nearly been completed, a proposed leveling and reconstruction of the Rose Garden, and an amphitheater with dug out seating, a larger stage and electrical outputs from the stage to a soundboard.

In addition to discussion of its ongoing projects, the board heard comments regarding future projects and the tax initiatives necessary to fund them.

Serving as the board’s council liaison, Ward 1 Councilman Dan Presson presented an overview of the projects proposed in TTF 6 and highlighted the city’s need to maintain its dilapidated roadways.

“Long story short, with the Transportation Trust Funds, we’ve been doing this for 25 years. It’s just a great way to continue the momentum of the everyday wear and tear of what our streets incur in the city,” Presson said. “It’s one of those things where you don’t hear anything about a great street. There’s a lot of streets that are in really decent shape in the city, but you hear a lot about the streets that are not.”

In addition to the TTF 6 tax renewal on the April 7 Cape Girardeau ballot, voters throughout Cape Girardeau County will also decide for or against a half-cent Law Enforcement Public Safety Sales Tax proposed by Cape Girardeau County Sheriff Ruth Ann Dickerson and placed on the April ballot by the County Commission.

With two tax issues on the same ballot, Presson said to expect citizens’ criticisms of the initiatives to manifest in one way or another.

“The thing that’s concerning about the April ballot measures for both the county and the city is that any tax is a tax that people like to attack, no matter what they are.” Presson said.