Pavers sold for walkway to help care for Capaha Park Rose Garden

Visitors taking in the beautiful blooms at the Capaha Park Rose Garden will soon have a new path beneath their feet.

Members of the Rose Garden's board of directors have been selling engraved granite pavers to line the new "Walkway of Honor" path for the past year in an effort to raise funds for the garden's continued care.

"I think a lot of people really love that rose garden," said Barbara Blanchard, co-chair of the Rose Garden board. "People come and eat their lunch, they come and just sit. It's kind of a place of meditation."

It's also a popular spot for photographers to take portraits and over the years several weddings have taken place there as well, Blanchard said. The new walkway will make the garden even more attractive for weddings, she said.

It will make a cross shape through the garden. One walkway will begin at the arbor entrance and continue 45 feet across to the fence, intersecting with a second walkway beginning at the informational kiosk entrance and continuing 175 feet across the garden to the fence that borders Perry Avenue.

A few hundred pavers have already been sold and they will continue to be available until all of them are purchased.

"They will be engraved either in memory of someone or in honor of someone," Blanchard said.

The Rose Garden board will provide materials for the new walkway and the work will be completed by Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department employees, said Brock Davis, parks division manager.

The city has been working with Bowen Engineering on the project design and hopes to begin work on the new path Oct. 1.

Earlier this spring, upgrades were made to the garden's irrigation system with materials provided by the Rose Garden board and labor provided by the parks department. Materials for this were also purchased by the garden board.

This will be the largest stone walkway the parks department has done and it may be a challenge given that they'll be working in tight spaces and around the irrigation lines, Davis said.

"We hope to have it done before winter sets in," he said.

The entire walkway will be constructed this fall, even without all the pavers sold, Davis said. Names can be engraved on the stones later after the walkway is complete.

Two paver sizes are available, a 4-by-8 inch for $50 and an 8-by-8 inch for $100.

"This will help to ensure funding for the rose garden. It is funded strictly through contributions," said Blanchard, who has been working with the garden since 1969.

The Rose Garden has a long history in Cape Girardeau, dating back to 1931 when it was first proposed. In March 1955 nearly 500 rose bushes were planted there.

"It's had its ups and downs. There have been struggles to keep it going," said Blanchard, who hopes this walkway project will help improve the garden in the future.

Members of the Rose Garden board will discuss more details of the walkway project at their next meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Cape Girardeau Public Library.

To purchase pavers, people can contact Blanchard at bablanchard@yahoo.com.

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

Perry Avenue and Parkview Drive, Cape Girardeau, Mo.