PLANS TAKING SHAPE FOR NATURE CENTER IN CAPE COUNTY'S NORTH PARK

Plans for a nature center in Cape Girardeau County North Park continue to take root as part of a $6.5 million project to develop a conservation campus.

A construction contract could be awarded by next spring. Construction is expected to take 18 months, with completion in 2002, said Keith Lesko, project manager for the Missouri Department of Conservation.

"We are a little behind schedule," he said. Initial plans had suggested a completion date of September 2001.

Lesko said the Conservation Department has earmarked $4.7 million toward the project. The rest is expected to come from donations.

The Cape Girardeau County Commission plans to apply for state or federal grants to fund infrastructure improvements such as water and sewer lines to serve the nature center. The commission also plans to seek corporate donations for the project, said Second District Commissioner Max Stovall, who oversees the county's buildings and grounds.

The nature center itself would cost about $2.7 million, the Conservation Department has estimated.

Indoor exhibits could cost another $898,000. Outdoor trails and exhibits could run another $1.2 million. Mobile classrooms that could take the conservation message to schools through Southeast Missouri would cost an estimated $1.5 million, Lesko said.

A master plan is being drawn up by Peckham and Wright Architects of Columbia. It envisions construction of a 19,000- to 23,000-square-foot facility with exhibits on two levels.

The structure could be built of wood and stone and likely would have "lots of glass," said Lesko.

It would be built on a hillside south of the existing Conservation Department building. Cape Girardeau County has donated about 50 acres of land for the nature center and conservation campus

The county will lease the land to the Conservation Department, Stovall said.

As part of the project, the county plans to purchase a tract of private land that includes a house and two acres near the entrance to the park. A new park entrance would be constructed, Stovall said.