Sports complex item heads to Cape City Council

After months of deliberation and study, an official recommendation will be made to the Cape Girardeau City Council tonight about the next project to be funded by the city's restaurant tax.

The 1 percent gross receipts tax charged to customers at restaurants and 4 percent tax charged on hotel stays passed in 1998, when voters approved a measure authorizing the taxes to be collected through 2030.

Historically, the restaurant tax has paid for tourism and recreation-related projects, including Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus, the Show Me Center and Osage Centre. The hotel/motel tax funds the operation of the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau.

After bonds that helped pay for the construction of the River Campus project were paid, the city forged an agreement with MidAmerica Hotels to determine the next project.

A six-person committee was tasked with reviewing data provided by city officials and consultants to select the project most likely to have a positive economic effect on the city, specifically bringing in more tourism during the typically sluggish winter months between November and April.

The City of Cape Girardeau/MidAmerica Hotels Corp. Feasibility Study joint committee voted Nov. 6 to recommend an indoor sports complex. It was chosen over three other options: an indoor aquatics facility, an agriculture expo center and a combined hotel and convention center.

The committee and the consultants will deliver a presentation with information about the amenities they believe should be included in the sports complex, as well as estimated cost and economic effect. Consultants proposed in October a 120,000-square-foot indoor sports complex that would feature six basketball courts that could serve as 12 volleyball courts, a large turf surface that could be divided into two or three fields, an elevated walking track, batting cages, golf cages, locker rooms and a concessions area. They estimate the facility's construction cost at $19.8 million.

Committee members have indicated costs could be significantly reduced by renovating an existing facility.

The restaurant tax is estimated to bring in more than $22.5 million through 2030, according to city estimates. The settlement agreement between the city and MidAmerica allocates $5 million for a new police station, leaving about $17.5 million.

City finance director John Richbourg's recommendation to the city is to not issue more than $12.5 million in bonds, which would be paid by restaurant tax revenue. Any amounts used to support operating costs would reduce the amount that could be bonded until a revenue neutral or a positive revenue stream could be obtained. Consultants have estimated the sports complex would reach 100 percent recovery costs in about three years of operation.

After the presentation, the council has the option to accept or reject the proposal. Should the council accept, further studies would begin in order to produce more details about the facility, including location and costs. Rejection would mean the tax would sunset.

Per the agreement, the council does not have the option to select a different project from the original list of four considered by the committee.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.