Parks/stormwater tax changed Cape's landscape, city looks to extend it for more projects

Cape Splash water park didn’t exist a decade ago.

The Shawnee Park Center was an idea, not a reality. The Osage Centre had not been expanded. Stormwater projects had not been tackled.

But in April 2008, Cape Girardeau voters approved a half-cent sales tax to finance those and other projects and provide funding to operate and maintain parks and the storm-drainage system.

The $25 million tax initiative changed the landscape of Cape Girardeau, but city officials insist there is more to be done.

The City Council plans to ask voters to extend the parks/stormwater tax next year. If approved, city officials vow to move ahead with more parks and storm-drainage projects over the next 15 years as well as improve maintenance.

Dan Muser, then-director of the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department, shows the lap pool being constructed in April 2010 at the new water park behind the Osage Community Centre.Fred Lynch

As they plan, officials also point to what has been accomplished.

Much of the original tax initiative focused on developing a water park.

The $8.7 million Cape Splash Family Aquatic Center opened in 2010 and since has seen major upgrades.

Parks officials said the recreation showpiece has been a huge success.

Parks and recreation

Adriano Grim shoots a layup with Elijah Wigfall watching in January 2014 at Shawnee Park Center.Fred Lynch

director Julia Thompson said revenue from the water park has exceeded operational expenses every year since it opened.

“It is a seven-state draw,” Thompson said.

“People come here and spend money,” she said, adding it generates sales-tax revenue that “helps to continue to invigorate our area.”

The water park drew more than 78,000 visitors in 2016. More than 85,000 people visited the park in 2015 after the introduction of new waterslides, officials said.

Recreation division manager Penny Williams said staff have not totaled attendance figures for the 2017 season, which ended last month. But Williams said 2017 “was another good year.”

New construction on the front of the Arena Building can be seen July 4, 2009, during the Joint Veterans Council's "Celebrating America's Birthday" event, as part of a $1.3 million renovation project approved by voters in April 2008.Fred Lynch

In 2016, more than 900 people a day on average visited the park. The park is open as many 94 days a year, beginning Memorial Day weekend and ending in September, Williams said.

While the water park has drawn the headlines, other projects have benefited the community, officials said.

Shawnee Park was little more than soccer and ballfields before the tax initiative.

The $2 million Shawnee Park Center opened in 2011, providing the city with a third community center, park officials said.

The Arena Building was renovated for $1.3 million. The project included a new roof, a new heating and cooling system, expanded offices and meeting rooms.

Scott Williams, Penny’s husband and a recreation manager, welcomed the Arena Park project in 2009, noting it would address a leaky roof.

“Our bucket days are over,” he said.

Parks officials said the tax also allowed the city to expand the Osage Centre, adding new meeting rooms and fitness space.

The new and upgraded facilities have allowed the city to expand its recreation programs, officials said.

Beyond all the projects and new playground equipment, the tax made it easier to maintain the city’s parks, officials said.

Cape Girardeau has 26 parks covering more than 600 acres. The parks system includes more than 10 miles of paved and natural-surface trails, officials said.

One-eighth-cent of the sales tax goes to parks and stormwater maintenance.

Thompson said that part of the tax generates about $1 million a year, with two thirds going for parks operations.

That money pays for the operation of the Shawnee Park Center and part of the cost of the municipal golf course as well as the employment of five full-time parks employees and replacement of some parks equipment.

“It is nice to have brand-new facilities, but unless you also consider a maintenance component, it would be doing the citizens a disservice,” she said.

Brock Davis, parks division manager, said the city used to struggle to operate its worn-out parks equipment. Keeping the grass mowed was a challenge because the mowers often were down for repairs, he recalled.

Thompson said, “We would get hand-me-down equipment from public works (department).”

The sales tax has allowed the parks department to buy new equipment.

Penny Williams said, “Now public works calls us to borrow equipment.”

Davis said, “We had no money (before the tax) for shelter replacement.”

The city, for example, tore down a shelter at Capaha Park because it was unsafe, but had no money to replace it, Davis said.

Arena Park shelters were “all rotting and leaning,” said Thompson. The tax initiative has allowed the city to replace those shelters, she added.

As the City Council looks to ask voters to extend the tax next year, Thompson said the city has delivered on promised improvements.

“Look at the beautiful things it has produced,” she said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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