SITE FOR NEW CHAMBER BUILDING RECOMMENDED

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, housed at 601 N. Kingshighway for more than 20 years, may move west.

The chamber's Facilities Committee has recommended a site along North Mount Auburn Road for a new chamber building.

The site, near the 1200 block of North Mount Auburn Road, is between Ford and Sons Funeral Homes and Northwestern Mutual LIfe Insurance Co.

The recommendation was approved during the chamber board's monthly meeting Tuesday morning.

The property, an 0.8-acre tract with 150 feet of frontage and 235 feet in depth, is for sale, Chamber President John Mehner said.

Walter J. "Doc" Ford owns the property.

"We looked at a number of locations," committee member Ollie J. Miller said. "We felt this was a great location."

Board Chairman Jim Rust agrees.

"Everybody was in agreement on the recommendation," he said, adding that the subcommittee voted unanimously for the site and the board voted unanimously for the recommendation.

Rust said the chamber is eager to get started on the project and hope "to get it going right away."

More than 30 sites were suggested for the new facility.

The idea of a new chamber facility emerged two years ago during the chamber's annual retreat. Chamber officials cited a need for additional space and more parking.

The plan was placed on the back burner during the 1993 retreat because of a loss of revenue from operating the license bureau. It had previously operated the license bureau and convention and visitors bureau.

The convention bureau moved to 1707 Mount Auburn Road. The license bureau was taken away from the chamber.

The idea of a new building emerged again when the chamber building was sold in mid-November.

The chamber received an unsolicited offer for the building, and, following some long discussions, the board decided to accept the offer. A lease agreement with the new owners allows the chamber to remain in its present site through November 1996.

Christopher H. and Myra Jung own the chamber building.

Harry Rediger was named chairman of a Facilities Committee during the chamber's 1994 retreat, held at Lone Star Industries Natatorium Nov. 18.

"We've been talking about a building in the 4,000-square-foot range," Mehner said. The chamber offices, which housed a Cape Girardeau physician's office until 1974, has about 2,800 square feet. Mehner added that the current facility has served the chamber well.

A new site will be only the fourth for the chamber since it was founded in 1920. The chamber met in the Elks Building the first eight years of existence before settling in at 225 Broadway in 1928, where it remained until November, when it moved to its North Kingshighway site.