Residents: Cape should tackle park projects in south side

Residents from various parts of Cape Girardeau offered the same message to city officials Wednesday: Provide a first-rate park and/or improve parks for the south-side neighborhood.

About 70 people, including residents, council members and city staff, attended the third and final public meeting on possible parks and stormwater projects that could be funded if voters next year extend a sales tax. The session was at the Osage Centre.

The city council hopes to finalize a list of projects later this year.

Delijah James, 14, runs up and shoots the ball in a game against Marquan Gray, 17, left, on Wednesday near the intersection of South Pacific and Linden streets in Cape Girardeau. A neighbor who didn't want to be named said it would be nice to see a place where young children could go and play ball nearby, such as a YMCA or a Boys and Girls Club.Andrew Whitaker ~ Southeast Missourian

“I think we need to give some serious attention to the south side,” said resident Doug Austin, adding city officials must “quit giving it lip service.”

Creating a first-rate park could spur redevelopment efforts in the neighborhood, he said.

Edna Patterson said the south-side neighborhood “needs a place for the kids to play.”

Indian and Ranney parks need permanent restrooms and more playground equipment, she said.

Patterson said residents in that area of the city need a neighborhood park.

A proposed aquatic center for the city is one of many park projects that could be funded with the tax.

But Patterson said the south-side park issues should be addressed first.

“We don’t need an aquatic center before that is taken care of,” she said.

Patterson said tax-funded projects need to foster a feeling of community citywide.

She said park improvements would provide “a place for kids to hang out” while serving as an “economic tool” for the area.

Felice Roberson, who lives in the south-side neighborhood, said sign boards set up around the meeting don’t propose any park improvements for her neighborhood.

“I don’t see that on the plan,” she said.

Roberson said she wants the city to fix Indian and Ranney parks, including adding permanent restrooms.

She and others have suggested the city expand Indian Park by purchasing the former juvenile center property that sits adjacent to the park.

In addition to adding amenities to Ranney Park, Roberson said it could be expanded by clearing away brush that covers part of the property.

City manager Scott Meyer told Patterson, Roberson and other residents seated at one of the meeting-room tables city officials “need to look at neighborhood parks” in the south part of the community.

City officials have proposed spending parks and stormwater sales-tax money on several projects throughout the city, including putting a roof on the Depression-era building at Fort D, a Civil War fort.

Jerry Kasten, a Civil War re-enactor, said the structure at Fort D, which was built in 1935, has deteriorated because it has been without a roof for years. The site also has no permanent restrooms.

He said he hopes the city will upgrade the site.

As proposed, two-thirds of the tax money would be spent on parks projects and a third on stormwater improvements.

But Jane O’Connell, who lives in the northeast part of the city, said she and others believe the city should focus more on addressing stormwater problems.

“We need a little bit more of a balance here,” she said, referring to stormwater and parks projects.

O’Connell praised the decision of city officials to seek public input on what projects to fund if the tax is extended. She said residents should have a say in the process.

“It’s our money that keeps our city going,” she said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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