St. Louis firm to study space needs for Cape City Hall

A St. Louis architectural firm will conduct a space needs study regarding Cape Girardeau�s aging city hall and whether it makes sense to relocate city operations to another building or construct a new city hall.

The Cape Girardeau City Council unanimously approved a �general services� agreement Monday with Chiodini Architects without a specific price tag. The firm previously worked with the city as part of the design-build team for Cape Girardeau�s new police station.

Anna Kangas, building and code enforcement manager, estimated before Monday�s meeting the study could cost $100,000 to $150,000.

Kangas said the council�s action allows city staff to negotiate specific tasks and their costs without having to come back to the council for approval.

But during the council meeting, city manager Scott Meyer said the council will be kept informed of every step of the study.

�We will bring everything back to you,� he said.

In response to council questions, Meyer said the study will be paid for with excess funds.

Newly elected Ward 6 Councilwoman Stacy Kinder questioned whether it might be better for the council to delay action until council members have had a chance to discuss the proposed fiscal 2019 budget.

But fellow council members said funding for the study will come from the fiscal 2018 budget and the study needs to move forward.

Deputy city manager Molly Mehner said the architects will determine space needs for city hall and look at how to meet those needs.

The study will include assessing whether to move city hall into the Common Pleas Courthouse when circuit court offices move out as well as whether the Common Pleas Courthouse Annex can be repurposed, city officials said.

Kangas said before the meeting as many as three additional sites may be studied, which could include existing buildings that could be converted into city hall or sites for construction of a new city hall.

The study could take four months to complete, she said.

Mehner told the council the study would �give us a play book on how to move forward.� She said that would include cost projections on the various options.

Ward 4 Councilman Robbie Guard welcomed the study.

�We know we have to do something. I feel good about it. I am gung ho to see what our options are going to be,� he said.

Cape Girardeau�s existing city hall was built as an elementary school in 1937. The city government has used it as city hall since 1978, having moved from the Common Pleas Courthouse.

City officials have said the Independence Street building lacks an elevator for handicapped accessibility and has a worn-out heating and cooling system that would be costly to replace.

Common Pleas Courthouse, an iconic structure that looks over the city�s downtown, was built in 1854. The annex was constructed in the early 1920s as a Carnegie Library.

The city�s Historic Preservation Commission recently placed the annex on its annual list of endangered buildings, citing the fact county offices are expected to vacate the structure within a few years.

The annex is one of the last Carnegie libraries ever built, according to the preservation commission.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

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401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

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