STUDENT WANTS OLD LIMBAUGH HOME SAVED

The president of Southeast Missouri State University's Historic Preservation Association hopes school officials will preserve the former home of the institution's oldest living alumnus.

Jon Colburn, a historic preservation major at Southeast, has suggested turning the former home of Rush H. Limbaugh Sr. at 814 N. Henderson into a welcome center for the school.

But school officials say the 58-year-old house and two others likely will be razed to make room for construction of the school's new business building.

All three structures are owned by the university. The Limbaugh house currently is home to the Air Force ROTC unit. The Army ROTC unit occupies the adjacent house on Henderson. A third house near the Scully Building serves as the offices for the university's public safety department. Tentative plans call for moving all three operations to vacant quarters in the Dearmont residence hall.

The schedule calls for the ROTC units to relocate to Dearmont by November. The public safety department likely won't relocate until December.

In a July 11 letter to university President Kala Stroup, Colburn suggested turning the Limbaugh house into a welcome center.

"This seems to me a fitting tribute not only to Southeast's oldest alumnus but to a family that has played a significant role in the history and development of Southeast Missouri," Colburn wrote.

Limbaugh, a Cape Girardeau lawyer, is 102 years old. His son, Stephen N. Limbaugh Sr., is a federal judge. Conservative talk-show personality Rush Limbaugh III is one of his grandsons. Grandson Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. is a Missouri Supreme Court judge.

Colburn said the importance of the Limbaugh family to the area makes the house eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.

At the very least, the university should properly document the history of all three houses before tearing them down, he said.

The university, Colburn maintained, should document the historic significance of all of the buildings it owns that are more than 50 years old.

Such action should be undertaken if the university, which touts its historic preservation degree program, wants to practice what it teaches, said Colburn.

In a written reply to Colburn on July 28, Stroup said the preservation student's proposal would be reviewed.

But Ken Dobbins, Southeast's executive vice president, said it is unlikely the Limbaugh house can be saved without drastically changing the business building project.

He said plans for the project are already well along. "We know pretty much what the footprint of the building will look like, the layout of the land."

The Limbaugh house and the adjacent Henderson Avenue house would be torn down and the hillside leveled for parking and landscaping.

In addition, the city and the university are discussing ways to straighten the nearby Henderson and New Madrid intersection to improve traffic safety. Tearing down the two houses would fit into such plans.

Dobbins said he would welcome the help of preservation students in documenting the historic significance of all campus buildings.

Some historical survey work has been done already on the Limbaugh house, a two-story structure built in 1936. Three Southeast students prepared a 32-page report on the house last spring for an English class.

The students suggested that the white-painted, brick house could be turned into a museum honoring the accomplishments of the Limbaugh family.

But Colburn shies away from such an idea because of fear that the focus would be on Rush Limbaugh III, whose conservative comments and on-air personality have generated both strong support and opposition.