Time for a turnaround

With the federal courthouse preparing to open its doors on Independence Street and the River Campus continuing to rise from the mud, Old Town Cape officials believe the time is finally right for revitalization in the Good Hope/Haarig historic district and surrounding neighborhoods on the city's south side.

Haarig was one of the three areas targeted for a turnaround when Old Town Cape was founded in 1999. But development there has shown few positive signs, lagging behind both Broadway and the riverfront.

"It has proved to be the most challenging area," said Dr. Steven Hoffman, president of Old Town Cape. "I think there's a sense that redevelopment in the Haarig district is keyed off the River Campus, so while that was stewing for those years, there was not a lot we could do."

But secure funding for the Southeast Missouri State University project has renewed interest in the area. Old Town Cape is now seeking to create a comprehensive plan for Haarig that would streamline zoning and present prospective investors with a clear vision for its future.

"I think it's going to be an ideal neighborhood for student and faculty members and ideal for businesses that cater to them," Hoffman said, adding, "If we do it right, we'll have ethnic diversity, eclectic energy based on the arts and some synergy when they come together."

The Haarig district, which included Good Hope Street, in 1894. (Submitted photo)

Understanding the history

But to understand why local leaders see the area as such an untapped resource, it's important to examine the area's past. Dr. Frank Nickell of Southeast Missouri State University compiled a history of the district at the request of Old Town Cape for its annual awards dinner in February.

Nickell said German immigrants settling in Cape Girardeau in the 1850s gave the neighborhood its first identity. They found the land west of the river on what is now Good Hope Street and surrounding streets to be the cheapest in town due to a gradual slope from the river and risk of flooding.

They quickly formed a self-contained community with butcher shops, saloons, breweries, barber shops and tanneries lining the streets. By the turn of the century, Haarig had developed into the principal shopping district for certain specialized goods and services.

"You would find barbers there, and they made most of their money on Saturday and Saturday night when they'd stay open till 1 or 2 a.m.," Nickell said. "Haarig was the place that was open all night. Farmers would come in from the country, and for them this was the big city. They'd get a shave and a haircut or maybe a plate lunch. Mom would do the shopping, and dad would get a beer or two."

Haarig's bustle and commerce was worlds away from the upscale boutiques on Main Street in downtown Cape Girardeau.

"The sights, sounds, smells and concentrated nature of Haarig made it seem a bit threatening. The large number of saloons, the bath houses, the fur company and tannery enhanced the physical distinction of the area," wrote Nickell in a speech.

Thomas L. Meyer, 87, was born in Perryville, Mo., but made many trips to the Haarig district as a youngster. Speaking only German until age 12, he fondly remembers the place he first visited in 1934 when he said he knew it was "my kind of town."

"I remember the taverns were quite busy in those days, and of course nobody got picked up for drunk driving because they were mostly walking. If you weren't walking, there were the horse-drawn streetcars that still ran back then," he said. "The supermarkets there were open air. I remember Ruh's Market and Lane's Market as two of the biggest. You could get anything you wanted in that area. It was really its own community."

By the 1920s and 1930s, the "foreignness" of the district had worn off, Nickell said, and Haarig was widely known as the best place to shop for work clothes, tools, fresh food and country commodities.

Haarig's decline

But the heyday did not last. Nickell believes World War II made German culture -- and by extension the area -- less appealing. At the same time, people who had lived through the Depression and returned from war abandoned old shopping practices. They were more attracted to the large, brightly lit and overstocked supermarkets then cropping up on the city's west side.

"Haarig didn't have the room to stock the big stacks of jeans, or hats, or shoes and gloves you would find out at the IGA store, for example," Nickell said. "It was just hard for small stores to compete. Rather than go to Haarig and buy cabbage, people would go to the A&P for the larger quantities and to find the sales; it was the sales that really drew them. And many more people had automobiles now, so they could travel with greater ease."

The deterioration was slow.

"The taverns were probably the first ones to go out, and soon the working-class people stopped coming in to do shopping and everything else moved out of the area," said Meyer.

Businesses trickled out over the next decades. Saint Francis Hospital at 825 Good Hope St. closed its doors in 1976, and Farmers & Merchants Bank at 632 Good Hope St. closed in 1985.

Another force that drove the exodus was the perception of crime.

In the 1980s and '90s, "out of really good intentions the city tore down some of the houses which had basically turned into crack houses, and what they had left were empty lots," Nickell said. "And one of the worst things they did out of perfectly good intentions was put a police station down there in the middle of Haarig, thinking it would make everybody feel safer. Well, the effect was just the opposite."

And so for many years the district languished and old residents either died off or moved away. Today, most of the storefronts along Good Hope Street are empty and many of the houses are in disrepair.

Time is right

Hoffman said the time is right for urban renewal. He hopes that Gov. Matt Blunt's newly created DREAM Initiative will free up funds to create a Haarig comprehensive plan.Cape Girardeau is applying to the program designed to help small towns get better access to state funding for historic preservation and urban renewal grants.

If funded, Hoffman and OTC will hire the urban planning firm Rosemann and Associates of St. Louis to conduct a study and create a proposal for best usage, restoration and development of the Haarig district. The planners have walked the neighborhood and came away impressed.

"We met with several developers who are all very interested in that area," said Rosemann's Nancy Cripe. "You all have a hidden gem down there, and it really deserves to be dusted off."

Area residents are mostly receptive to renewal. Shirley Smith of Middle Street said the investment is badly needed. "I would like to see some industry come in and some houses get upgraded. I would just love to see something happen here," she said.

Doris Bentley, who owns Doris' Antiques at 627 Good Hope St., echoes the thought. "With the new bridge and the River Campus, now is the time. I'd just like people to come down here and see that it's not dangerous at all. More people get robbed in the mall than down here."

But some, though embracing the idea of investment, hope the face of the neighborhood won't be changed.

"We need to revamp this area desperately. Most people whether they're white or black are scared to come down here after dark," said Rick Bond, co-owner of Big Cat's Soul Food & Barbecue at 425 Morgan Oak St. "But I want to know that people in this neighborhood will get to keep their homes. They should move the undesirable elements out, but I don't want the city taking people's homes."

It's just that sentiment, said Hoffman, which makes the process a delicate one.

"What we need to do is accentuate the distinctive qualities of the area. That means involving the residents and businesses to grow something distinctive together," he said. "Diversity is what makes downtown vital and unique. The developers and country-club folks don't read the same literature we do and they are uncomfortable with diversity, but in the end that's what will make this work. We need to educate both sides."

tgreaney@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245