STUMBLING BLOCKS REMAIN IN PERRYVILLE CENTER LEASE

Southeast Missouri State University's Board of Regents won't lease a Catholic library in Perryville, Mo., for a higher education center until the Congregation of the Mission agrees to remove its rare books and art objects, the board's president said Monday.

Board President Don Dickerson said the regents are concerned about liability issues.

The Congregation of the Mission owns the library and its contents at the St. Mary's of the Barrens, a former seminary in Perryville.

Southeast officials have asked the Vincentians to donate or loan the rare books and art objects to the university.

Southeast wants to house them in a River Campus museum in Cape Girardeau that has yet to be built.

In a memorandum to university President Dr. Ken Dobbins late last month, Dickerson outlined the board's concerns.

Dickerson said school officials originally thought the rare books and art objects were going to be sold or moved from Perryville to DePaul University in Chicago.

That, in turn, prompted Southeast officials to request the items be donated or loaned to the Cape Girardeau school.

Dickerson said the request fit neatly with the university's plans to develop a former Vincentian seminary in Cape Girardeau into a visual and performing arts school. The new campus would include a museum.

"It presented a wonderful way to forever memorialize the Vincentians' great contributions to the history of this region," he said.

But regardless of whether the university gets the collection, Dickerson said the Vincentians need to remove the books and other items before the university can proceed with the higher education project.

Dickerson said one of the principal duties of the regents is to preserve and protect the assets of the university and not put those assets at risk.

He said the board won't approve a lease that "contains so valuable a collection over which the university has absolutely no control."

"Liability and protection issues abound," Dickerson wrote in the memorandum. "Security requirements are substantial and proper maintenance of the collection is a concern."

Southeast plans to renovate the building for classroom use.

"I don't think any contractor with any sense at all is going to sign a contract to try to do renovations around a valuable art and book collection," said Dickerson.

Although the university has yet to break ground for the River Campus, Dickerson said Southeast has space on its campus to temporarily house the books and art objects until the museum is built.

"That way we could go on and get started with the renovation of the library building," he said.

Southeast hopes to open the building for classes in January.

But Dickerson said that won't happen if this stumbling block isn't resolved.

Dickerson said in the memorandum that he was "surprised" the Vincentians haven't made a decision on the matter.

Dickerson said he hadn't expected "any substantial problem" in securing the books and art objects for display at Southeast.

He said the university then could justify the expense of cataloging, moving and storing the collection on the university campus.

There was no response Monday from the Congregation of the Mission, headquartered in the St. Louis area.