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NewsJanuary 10, 2003

Plans to tear down the Holiday Inn have created a problem for area service clubs that have held weekly meetings there for years -- where to go now? "I would say there is going to be some scrambling," said Denise Stewart, president-elect of the Rotary Club of Cape Girardeau. "It sounds like what's going to replace the Holiday Inn won't work for us."...

Plans to tear down the Holiday Inn have created a problem for area service clubs that have held weekly meetings there for years -- where to go now?

"I would say there is going to be some scrambling," said Denise Stewart, president-elect of the Rotary Club of Cape Girardeau. "It sounds like what's going to replace the Holiday Inn won't work for us."

The Holiday Inn will close Sept. 1 and be razed to make way for a Holiday Inn Express. But the new Holiday Inn won't be finished for a year, and even when it is there won't be a restaurant in it. Even the nearby Holiday Inn Convention Center doesn't have a kitchen -- not good news for groups that usually meet during meal hours.

"I don't know what they're going to do," said Dan Drury, president of Midamerica Hotels Corp., which owns the Holiday Inn. "They could meet at the convention center and cater food in, if they wanted to."

The Lion's Club, Cape West Rotary, Zonta Club and others meet weekly at the Holiday Inn.

Stewart said that catering food in wouldn't be ideal for the 100 or so members of that group. She said the current situation has been perfect.

"The location was good, the buffet line suited all of our needs," she said. "There are places like the Show Me Center and the Osage Centre, but those places don't serve food either."

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Stewart said she's hoping that other area restaurants -- now that they know the Holiday Inn situation -- are preparing to court the club to get its business.

Cape West Rotary, which has about 70 members, already has a subcommittee studying the matter, said club president Hugh White, who is also a Cape Girardeau City Council member. He also said he's going to meet with someone from Midamerica to see what they might be able to do.

"This is really going to be rough on all the service clubs," White said. "It's going to be tough to find a place to accommodate our needs. Sometimes we need a TV or a VCR or projectors. The Holiday Inn provided that."

White said the good news is that they have seven months to find a new meeting place.

"They've announced it well in advance, and that's good," he said. "I think the clubs that meet there are all considering their options."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137

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