Perryville company wins contract to turn music venue into state park

Editor's Note: The date of Jimmy Tebeau's release from prison and information about an upcoming tour of the park has been clarified below.

A more than $50 million project in Southern Missouri's Shannon County is turning a former backwoods hippie music venue into a new state park, and a Perryville, Missouri, construction company is on board for the bulk of the work.

Robinson Construction Co. announced Wednesday in a news release the award of a $29.2 million state contract to build a 20-room lodge with a restaurant and store, amphitheater, bluff-top event shelter, cabins, campsites and other amenities at Camp Zoe, off Highway 19 between the Missouri cities of Salem and Eminence.

The equestrian stables at Camp Zoe are still standing. All the other historic buildings have been demolished, other than the old stone lodge. (Andrew Sheeley)

Missouri State Parks bought the 330-acre property for $640,000 in an auction from the U.S. Department of Justice in late 2013 and since has worked with the state's Office of Administration to plan and develop the new park.

The property was auctioned by the federal government as its former owner, musician Jimmy Tebeau, was serving a prison sentence in South Dakota for a conviction on drug-related charges.

Tebeau bought the land in 2004 and until 2010 hosted concerts and campouts several times per year at Camp Zoe. The events, called "Schwagstock," were named after Tebeau's Grateful Dead tribute band, the Schwag.

Some of the events brought in as many as 5,000 people.

A law-enforcement drug raid in the fall of 2010 ended the parties, and while Tebeau was not proven by prosecutors to have participated in drug sales on the property, he later pleaded guilty to maintaining a drug-involved premises, the Associated Press reported.

Camp Zoe operated as a youth summer camp from 1929 until the late 1980s, according to documents from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, which oversees the state's park division.

A document containing details on the new park sent Thursday to the Southeast Missourian by Missouri State Parks' communications director, Steph Deidrick, states the park also will include 160 acres bought separately by the state for $455,000.

The additional property contains a scenic overlook of the Sinking Creek valley and land to build a road to the overlook.

The park also will include the "Shannondale Fire Tower" property, which is part of a land swap between the parks division and the Missouri Department of Conservation, the documents stated.

A tour of the property for media and others by invitation is set for July 30, Deidrick said.

Paul Findlay, vice president of Robinson Construction, said construction at the park is in the early stages, as the company is working on foundations, structural steel and utility work in a few areas.

Robinson Construction estimated in the news release the project will create about 80 construction jobs during the next year.

The company, which offers a variety of construction services in specialized markets ranging from municipal to institutional and heavy industrial, has experienced rapid growth during the past decade.

In November, Robinson Construction announced it had exceeded 500 employees for the first time in company history, ranking it among a small percentage of Missouri companies with that number of employees.

The company also reported in November it would exceed a $25 million payroll in 2014.

The parks division documents gave summer 2016 as a completion date for the park. Details on the park's design and development were included in the document.

Design and engineering for the park was contracted to the Farnsworth Group of St. Louis; other main contractors on the project include American Pride Hauling of Centertown, Missouri, Robertson Construction of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and Brockmiller Construction of Farmington, Missouri, according to the document.

The approximately $52 million in project costs, the document stated, "will be paid by using existing State Parks fund sources."

A request for more information about where the funding for the park is coming from and the approval process for its appropriation was sent to Gov. Jay Nixon's communication's staff Thursday, along with a request for a comment from the governor about the development of the park.

The request prompted the parks division's response with the document, and the governor's office staff answered to a follow-up request for comment and more details with an email stating they "will stick with the information sent to you by DNR."

A $10 million community development block grant paying for roadwork in and around the park also is part of the project, according to the documents.

The Shannon County Commission and the Missouri Department of Transportation partnered on the grant.

The state's plans look to keep Camp Zoe from again becoming a spot known for partying hard. The DNR documents state the park will offer "great opportunities for corporate retreats, special events like weddings and reunions and other such functions where organizers need formal space for the 'business' aspects of their trip to complement the abundant recreational features."

At the park will be floating point access for the creek and Current River, along with opportunities for fishing and hiking. Materials to be used in the park's construction and decoration will "reflect the character of the Ozarks," with elements such as native wood and stone, according to the DNR documents.

State Rep. Jeff Pogue, who represents the district that includes Shannon County, filed a bill last session to try to stop development of the park. He filed the bill -- which didn't make it out of committee -- in an attempt to get more information about the project, his legislative staffer said Thursday. The DNR since has responded with some information.

The state park system gets most of its funding from a voter-approved sales tax and the rest from revenues generated by the park system and some federal funds, according to the state parks division's website.

Tebeau's music festivals, meanwhile, are continuing elsewhere in Missouri.

"Schwagstock 46," a campout/concert event including a float trip with the band, is set for the weekend of Sept. 11 at Ozark Outdoors, a camping resort along the Meramec River near Leasburg, Missouri, according to the resort's website.

The band re-formed after Tebeau's release from prison in spring 2014 and plays several shows per week, mostly in the Midwest. The Schwag last played in Cape Girardeau in March at Pitter's Cafe and Lounge.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3632

Pertinent address:

Perryville, MO

Salem, MO

Eminence, MO