PRESERVATION SEEN AS PRIORITY; CEMETERY MAY BE CITY LANDMARK

Two state historic preservation officials said Wednesday that the best way for Cape Girardeau to preserve and protect Old Lorimier Cemetery is to formally designate the site as a local historic landmark.

The city last year adopted an historic preservation law that provides for the designation of historic properties and districts. The city's Historic Preservation Commission Wednesday met to discuss the possibility of making Lorimier Cemetery one of its first projects.

Judith Deel, local government coordinator for the historic preservation division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and Steve Mitchell, the division's national register coordinator, were in Cape Girardeau to tour the cemetery and discuss Cape Girardeau historic preservation efforts in general.

Over the years, Old Lorimier Cemetery repeatedly has been vandalized. The most recent incident came last week when 35 tombstones were toppled. At least 15 of the markers were broken into two or more pieces.

The Historic Preservation Commission is resurrecting the fight to save the city landmark, and commissioner Martha Bender has said preserving the cemetery will be a top priority of the group.

Deel and Mitchell said the cemetery is a unique historical asset to the community and state.

"Obviously the cemetery is filled with people who were important to the founding and history of Cape Girardeau and to the state as well," Mitchell said. "It's an excellent cemetery.

"It's very old, large and well-preserved."

Deel called Old Lorimier Cemetery "very, very interesting. Some of Missouri's very early history is down here," she added.

Deel said the city should work to designate the cemetery as a local historic site, which would make preservation and protection of it a priority.

Some residents have said the city should seek to place the cemetery on the National Register of Historic Places. But Deel said the local designation would be a much more effective way to actually preserve the site.

"The real ability and power to protect historical resources lies with local governments to provide laws and regulations governing their historic sites," Deel said.

She said federal funding is available to assist Certified Local Government entities such as Cape Girardeau in surveying and other work to designate historical sites. She said the cemetery would be a unique and promising project for the city's Historic Preservation Commission.

"By designating it as a local historic landmark, it not only identifies the site as significant to the city's history, but, because of that, it also is a justification for the city to prioritize funding, services or stepped-up patrol of the cemetery, or to organize efforts by the community to preserve the cemetery," Deel said.

"There's so much potential with the cemetery, and obviously there's so much interest in the community."

City Planner Kent Bratton said the city is working to create a new anti-vandalism law for cemeteries in light of the recent damage at Old Lorimier Cemetery.

He said one of the first projects of the commission should be to assure that the site is mapped as accurately as possible to see who is buried there.

Bratton said the mapping and survey work could be incorporated into a grant application with the state historic preservation division. The division can provide up to 50 percent of the cost of such projects.

Mildred Vogelsang, a local historian, already has done extensive research on the cemetery. She guided the Historic Preservation Commission on a tour of the cemetery prior to Wednesday's meeting.

Commissioner Art Mattingly said Vogelsang's work is a valuable resource the commission should utilize.

Deel said the state considers oral history, such as Vogelsang could provide, a standard component of historic site surveys.

Bender said the commission should continue to work to rally community support for Old Lorimier Cemetery preservation efforts.

"We need to roll with the momentum we've got going," she said. "The people in the community are wanting to help. They're chomping at the bit, and they're needing direction."