SEMO to sell, not demolish, historic building

According a statement released by the school Tuesday, Southeast Missouri State University officials now say they will not raze the Himmelberger House at 603 N. Henderson St. in Cape Girardeau but will instead try to sell it.

Brad Sheriff, vice president for finance and administration at Southeast Missouri State University. Sheriff announced Tuesday SEMO is shelving a previous plan to demolish Himmelberger House on campus and will instead attempt to sell it.

In May, SEMO said it would demolish the more than century-old building because it had fallen into disrepair and the assumed cost to bring the home back to code was more than the university was prepared to invest.

University officials received feedback after the spring decision and have reconsidered.

"We were asked by members of the community at the time if the property could be sold," said Brad Sheriff, Southeast's vice president for finance and administration," in a news release. "When the governing body of (our) institution was a Board of Regents, the university did not have legal authority to sell property but based on our relatively recent change to a Board of Governors, we put our plans for the property on hold and sought counsel regarding the possibility of expanded Board authority. We received confirmation that the Board of Governors, unlike a Board of Regents, has the ability to sell property without legislative action."

Ryan Lane, chairperson of Cape Girardeau's Historic Preservation Commission (HPC), welcomed the change of heart.

"Any time a historic building in Cape Girardeau is able to be saved, we think it's a positive (thing)," said Lane, who has been on the city's HPC for two years.

"The Himmelberger House has been an important part of SEMO's history and that of the city of Cape Girardeau. The building had been used for women's study classes back in the 1950s and beyond. For us, anytime we see a building saved in the city of Cape, regardless of who owns it, it's a massive positive for the entire city. A lot of our tourism base is tied to our history."

Himmelberger House also once housed the Jane Stephens Honors Program. Officials moved the program into Memorial Hall during the most recent spring semester.

Jane Cooper Stacy, former longtime director of SEMO's Alumni Services and Development, told the Southeast Missourian on Tuesday she was "hesitant" when she first heard the original news about the plan to demolish the structure.

At the time, she said she hoped Southeast had exhausted all options.

After being newly apprised of the new plan to sell, Stacy — who indicated she has long professed an interest in preserving historic structures on campus — added her 2 cents.

"I would say I have faith in the decisions of the Board of Governors. It has access to information the public doesn't have," she said.

Home of H.I. Himmelberger, 603 N. Henderson Ave., at the corner of Henderson and Rockwood Drive, on June 7, 1952. The home was sold to Southeast Missouri State University "for use in training young women in vocational home economics." SEMO officials announced Tuesday they have reconsidered a May decision to demolish the historic home. Instead, it will be put up for sale.Southeast Missourian file

SEMO officials say a real estate brokerage will be engaged through a "competitive process" to handle a desired sale.

According to the news release, the university issued a request for proposals Monday for real estate services and will work with the company chosen for the work to determine market value and listing price.

"The new direction with respect to this property makes sense for the University, and we trust that it will be welcomed by many members of the community," Sheriff said.

Mary Ann Kellerman, who with her husband, Bert, operate Cape Girardeau's Kellerman Foundation for Historic Preservation, said Tuesday while she is aware of several interested parties, the Foundation "if necessary" would buy Himmelberger House.

Harry I. Himmelberger moved his family to Cape Girardeau from Morehouse, Missouri, in March 1921. The following month, work began on his new house at Rockwood Drive and North Henderson Avenue. The Himmelberger family moved into its new home in December of that year. The house was purchased by the university in 1952. SEMO officials said Tuesday that Himmelberger House will not be demolished but instead sold. The home is pictured here as it looked in 1929.Southeast Missourian file

History

Harry I. Himmelberger built the Neoclassical Revival style home with red matt brick in 1921.

At the time, Himmelberger was superintendent of Little River Drainage Project, a massive and successful effort to siphon off water from 1.2 million acres of Southeast Missouri swamp land, making the area habitable.

The project, according to archival material, moved more earth than during the creation of the Panama Canal.

Himmelberger's family also funded construction of the H&H, or Himmelberger & Harrison, Building in Cape Girardeau — now the site of Courtyard by Marriott Hotel on Broadway.