Perryville education project gets funding

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- A $300,000 federal allocation will help transform a former Catholic seminary building into a higher education center.

U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., announced the funding during a news conference in Perryville on Monday.

The money will help finance the $1.5 million project to renovate the building at St. Mary's of the Barrens, construct a parking lot and make street improvements. The local community is footing the bulk of the cost, much of it raised through the Perryville Development Corp., a non-profit group of area business leaders.

The federal money is earmarked largely for a new elevator and central air conditioning in the 47-year-old building.

Southeast Missouri State University will operate the center once it opens next fall. Renovation work is expected to start within the next few weeks, said Al Stoverink, facilities management director at Southeast.

The project is expected to be completed by August.

Job training facility

Bond said the renovated building will provide education and technical training necessary to provide skilled labor for local industries. The money was part of the fiscal year 2002 spending bill for the Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development departments. It was added as an economic development measure, said Bond, a ranking member of the appropriations subcommittee on which he is a ranking member.

"It will help meet the needs of employers in this area so they can remain competitive," he said after the announcement. "And training is the best solution for unemployment and underemployment."

Southeast is leasing the building under a 50-year agreement. Southeast is paying $1 a year to the Congregation of the Mission, the St. Louis-based Catholic order that owns the former seminary library building.

Southeast and Mineral Area College in Parks Hills, Mo., will offer classes at the center.