PROPERTY CODE BECOMES LAW ON THURSDAY

Cape Girardeau's new property maintenance code provides the city with some ammunition in attacking the problem of vacant buildings.

But city officials say the new law, which takes effect Thursday, won't ensure that buildings like the Marquette Hotel or old St. Francis hospital will be renovated or torn down.

And not just anybody can make complaints about code violations.

Rick Murray, who supervises the city's building inspectors, said that complainants must live or work within a 200-foot radius of the affected property, or be business customers.

The city, he said, won't deal with "drive-by" complaints.

Murray said all complaints will be investigated, including any dealing with the Marquette Hotel on Broadway and the old hospital building on Good Hope Street.

The two dilapidated buildings have been a topic of discussion at city hall for years. But city officials were powerless to do much, short of condemnation, because the structures weren't occupied.

Condemnation is financially impractical when the cost of tearing down the structures is considered, officials have said.

In 1991, it was estimated it could cost nearly $500,000 to raze the old hospital building, including the cost of removing asbestos.

The cost of demolishing the Marquette Hotel was estimated at more than $170,000, excluding any asbestos removal work that might be necessary.

The new city law, with its provisions for fines or even jail time, provides a way to get property owners and tenants to fix up buildings rather than let them fall into ruin.

Even before the city council approved the code, the Marquette Hotel's owner, Thad Bullock, had boarded up broken windows and chained shut the front doors.

He said Friday that he has hired a man to make some repairs, including some roof work.

Bullock maintains his building meets city regulations. The property code, he said, deals more with rental units than with vacant structures.

Murray said it would be easier to address any complaints about the six-story Marquette Hotel because the owner lives in Cape Girardeau.

In contrast, the old brick hospital building, constructed in 1913, was the property of an out-of-state owner. Broken windows, badly cracked concrete steps and graffiti are signs of its neglect.

The building was purchased by Peter C. Kern of Denton, Texas, and Texas Health Enterprises in 1989.

City officials said Kern has since died, and it is uncertain exactly who has ownership of the building.

"We would have to have someone we could take action against," Murray said.