QUALTIES OF LIFE: ARTS AND RECREATION ARE IN THE BLACK

During the '90s, community financial support for arts organizations has zoomed from $86,000 to nearly $265,000. And per capita operating expenditures for parks and recreation have more than doubled.

From a financial point of view, the community's cultural and recreational life is operating in the black.

The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri is responsible for about $160,000 of the increase in support for the arts. Daniel North, executive director of the Arts Council, attributes the gain to its growing interests and gallery exhibitions.

When the Arts Council moved into its currently location at 119 Independence St. in 1998 it expanded from one gallery to two. One gallery is devoted to national exhibitions and the other to local artists.

The doubling of exhibits was accompanied by a boost in financial support from the Missouri Arts Council.

North said the organization, the oldest of its kind in the state, also has increased circulation of its newsletter to 1,000.

The annual Christmas arts and crafts fair is the Arts Council's primary fund-raising tool. It has become so popular it requires both the Osage Community Centre and the Show Me Center. Other individuals and organizations hold their fairs the same weekend.

"We bring half a million people into town that one weekend," North said.

Museum attendance shot back up to near previous levels in 1997 after nosediving in 1996. That dropoff occurred because the University Museum closed for seven months for remodeling. Total museum attendance in 1996 was 10,796 but bounced back to 15,094 in 1997. The high point for museum attendance during the decade was 1995's total of 16,778.

The University Museum, the Glenn House and the River Heritage Museum account for the totals.

Total event-days of bookings at the Show Me Center continued a decline that began after the high of 538 in 1993. Event-days includes both Arena and meeting room events.

A total of 381 event-days were booked at the Show Me Center in 1997. the number of arena events actually increased from 152 in 1996 to 169 in 1997, but the number of meeting room events droppled from 310 to 212 during that same period.

Show Me Center Director David Ross said much of that decline has occurred because three churches at one time were meeting at least weekly at the facility and no longer do. One of those churches met 75 times in a year.

Total attendance at Show Me Center events was 302,661 in 1995, 263,017 in 1996 and 273, 337 in 1997.

Most of that dropoff since 1995 has been due to entertainment events as opposed to athletic and others. The Show Me Center has had difficulty attrcting top acts because most want to play larger arenas.

Ross has attempted to fill in with home shows and arts and crafts events.

The Cape Girardeau Public Library continues to labor under a law that limits the boundaries of its district while the City of Cape Girardeau continues to expand. People who live outside the boundaries but inside the city can use the library but cannot check out materials unless they purchase a membership.

Besides the boundaries, library officials say that a good economy usually translates into lower circulation.

Per capita use of library materials has trended downward since the 1992 high of 3.27 to the 1996 and 1997 lows of 3.02.

Cape Girardeau has added Osage Community Centre, the Shawnee Park Sports Complex and the LaCroix Recreation Trail to its park resources since the last survey of the city's quality of life.

Parks and Recreation Director Dan Muser said the recreation trail has been used heavily. "We've gotten a lot of positive comments. I heard people say they were not sure it was a good idea at the time but it's probably one of the best things we have done."

The city currently has 23 parks and two swimming pools. Use of both the Central Pool and the Capaha Pool rose between 1996 and 1997. Muser said attendance at the Central pool is higher -- 73,746 to 32,424 -- only because it is open during the winter.

After dramatically increasing park holdings from 13.13 acres per 1,000 population in 1992 to 19.5 acres per 1,000 in 1993, the city's total park acreage has remained the same. Parks and Recreation per capita operating expenditures increased from $40.66 in 1990 to $82.33 in 1997.

Muser says the city's current need is to replace some aging shelters and to build more shelters and restrooms.

The Cape Girardeau Municipal Golf Course has made improvements this year on some of its teeing grounds. The course has lost some of its fairways this year but some are coming back, Muser said.

After rising steadily through the decade, use of the golf course --approximately 34,000 rounds per year -- has leveled off in the past three years.

He says the city is in good recreational shape. "I think the quality of the parks and Recreation Department and the system Cape has is probably one of the best in the state for a community this size and even for communities larger than ours," he says.