Reynolds House gets slight reprieve

The Reynolds House is getting a wrap. Tarps will be used to cover holes in the historic building's roof, according to Donna Grantham, president of the Historical Association of Greater Cape Girardeau.

The 150-year-old home at 623 N. Main St. has a spot on the National Register of Historic Places but is falling apart.

The tarps are a temporary measure to buy time, she said.

"We've had several phone calls from people who wanted to know more, who may want to be a benefactor," she said. "Nobody wants us to tear it down. Everyone wants it saved. We've had lots and lots of calls and, of course, the calls to Speak Out."

Grantham said an anonymous benefactor offered to hire contractors to stabilize the building sometime in the next three weeks.

After a brief meeting last week to discuss offers, the historical association recruited an independent task force and gave it 10 days to find a solution.

Real estate agent Tom Meyer will chair the task force, which includes historic preservation consultant Terri Foley; lawyer Stan Grimm; Ken Eftink, Cape Girardeau's development services director; and Bill Port, historical association member. Two city councilmen, Ward 2's Charlie Herbst and Ward 1's John Voss, also expressed interest in being on the task force, Grantham said, but their participation depends on the meeting schedule.

"It's a powerful committee," Grantham said. "The purpose is to do a feasibility study to see what we could do and can't do, as far as collecting money and gathering tax credits, and the whole realm of renovating the building and making it into something. It will be a short-lived task force."

She said a St. Louis bank that specialized in helping organizations find tax credits for historical preservation called.

"We may or may not pursue that," Grantham said. "We want to keep the money here."

James Reynolds hired noted architect Edwin Branch Deane to design the home. Built in 1857, it reflects French colonial and Georgian cottage styles. Brick mason Joseph Lansmon built the Reynolds House as well as Cape Girardeau icons St. Mary's Cathedral and the Common Pleas Courthouse. According to local historic preservationists, the house is unique in Cape Girardeau.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127