Pierce City builds on its past for recovery work

PIERCE CITY, Mo. -- A passion for the past always distinguished downtown Pierce City, where tourists came to browse the antique stores and enjoy the 19th century architecture. It all disappeared on May 4, 2003, when a tornado smashed the historic business district to rubble.

But hope and pride are surging as the city's heart is rebuilt piece by piece -- first a set of stores and restaurants that opened in May 2004, and now several municipal buildings.

A new city hall opens next week, just in time for the annual Christmas parade, to be followed by the new senior center in the next few weeks and the new library in February. Groundbreaking for a new fire station also takes place soon.

"It's a better town for the people who live here than before," said Pierce City architect Jim Moore, who based the initial design for the new city hall on the old train depot depicted on post cards.

The tornado, Moore said, decided the fate of old buildings that were nearly past repair.

"The upper floors and windows in many of them were already rotten," Moore said. "There was no interest in rebuilding them. It would have never happened without the tornado."

Moore said the new Pierce City is a more livable and walkable town for the 1,300 people who live here.

"The facilities are near for everything you do on a day-to-day basis," he said. "Things will smooth out over the next few years, but Pierce City is on the right path."

At the new Senior Citizens Center, Teresa Heeter finds the cathedral ceiling and bright reception room "so elegant."

"Our seniors have so much more now than they did before," Heeter said. "It was a tragedy, but it looks now that maybe nothing but good will come from it."

New sidewalks have been constructed to replace the old. Commercial Street, where all of the old storefronts once stood, has been repaved. New street signs are being installed.

Costing about $450,000, the new City Hall has its own power generator, a garage for police cars, a break room, offices, a room for council meetings and a vault that doubles as a safe room. The walls, floor and ceiling of the safe room are concrete.

An open house at the building is set for Dec. 11, the day of the Christmas parade.

"Come on down for the Christmas parade and see the new Pierce City," Mayor Mark Peters said. "We still have to round off the edges, but we're getting closer every day."