Penzel assembled team of Midamerica Hotels, Jackson city, school district for aquatic center consideration

Shortly after Cape Girardeau voters passed a parks and stormwater tax that included $6 million toward the construction of a new indoor swimming and aquatics facility, Phil Penzel, CEO of Penzel Construction, assembled a team of interested public and private parties to consider contributions to the project, he told the Southeast Missourian on Thursday.

Those parties include Midamerica Hotels, the City of Jackson, the Jackson School District and the Cape Girardeau County Commission. Penzel said he believes the project could be considered a regional project larger in scope and available to several schools if more partners were secured.

Penzel provided a copy of the letter of interest he submitted to the aquatics committee to the Southeast Missourian. On Wednesday, the aquatics committee and city officials declined to release the letter, citing "sensitivities" and discussed the letter in a closed session. The aquatics committee consists of six members, three each representing the city and the school district.

"I watched election night coverage with great interest to see if the bond issue for this project passed," Penzel wrote in the letter. "I feel it is a much-needed project for the community. Once the bond issue succeeded, I began to assemble a team of interested parties and strategic alliances to discuss possible sites and project feasibility, as well as the design and construction of the new facility.

"Our team would like to introduce the idea of a private-public partnership, similar to the arrangement at the Sportsplex. I contacted Joel Neikirk, vice president of operations for Midamerica Hotels to see if he had any interest in the project. Joel responded favorably and mentioned the availability of a 6-acre tract of land located west of the Sportsplex. Siting the new indoor aquatic facility at this location has numerous advantages, including the ability for both facilities to share expanded parking, which can often come at a premium.

"I also contacted Mayor Dwain Hahs to see if he thought the City of Jackson would be interested in participating in a regional indoor aquatic facility. He also responded favorably and said the Jackson School District showed interest as well. I then contacted the county commission and they also expressed interest in this project."

Penzel wrote that for Jackson to participate, the facility would need to be located on the west side of Cape Girardeau.

"Regional participation would mean the facility could be larger and the operational costs would be shared, providing a much-needed facility for both communities at a significantly lower cost to each," Penzel wrote in the letter.

Such a plan is at odds with the favored location of the Cape Girardeau School District, which has said in order for it to participate, the facility would need to be built on its Jefferson Elementary property near Highway 74 on the south side of Cape Girardeau.

In an interview Thursday, Penzel said he had no issues with the letter being made public. He was out of town recently, and his father died, so he hasn't been available to answer questions. He said the letter was generic, and he's sure the committee would like to ask questions to him and other partners in the project. To that end, he's been working with city officials to bring the partners together for a meeting sometime next week, if possible. He said he would be fine if the meeting were held in open session. Neikirk expressed the same sentiment, Penzel said.

Penzel said he simply wanted to express the idea of magnifying the project with other partners. He said he has not had discussions with other schools, but he said other schools such as Notre Dame and Saxony might want to make use of the facilities as well. These avenues could be explored to support the project and better serve the region, he said.

Penzel said even with the city's dedicated $6 million and Cape Girardeau School District's proposed $4 million pending a bond issue, the facility will fall short of what it needs to be.

A consultant at Wednesday's meeting put forth a proposal with the committee's wish list, and it came at a cost of roughly $18 million, nearly double what the city and school district could put toward the project.

Penzel said the county commission's interest included potential land. Penzel said once the idea of the adjoining Sportsplex property was proposed, he didn't think the county could offer a better location.

He added that the land near the Sportsplex is already graded and ready for building. He noted the two facilities could be joined and share concession spaces, driving down the costs.

Penzel was one of three entities submitting a letter of interest. The others were the city of Cape Girardeau and the Cape Girardeau School District. The city and school districts shared their letters, but Penzel's was withheld from the public.

The six-member committee of city and school representatives have spent months working with consultants in an effort to develop final recommendations on both location and scope of such a project.

Cape Girardeau voters extended a parks/stormwater sales tax in April to pay for the project.

"Regardless of which site is chosen," Penzel wrote in his letter, "our team will support the city's efforts and would welcome the opportunity to design and build the new indoor aquatic facility."

Penzel Construction was the contractor that built the Sportsplex, a 121,000 square-foot facility near the Interstate 55 intersection with Kingshighway. The project won multiple awards by trade publications.

Penzel Construction is involved in a handful of other public projects, including the new justice center and the police station in Jackson.

bmiller@semissourian.com

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