TWO LOCAL BUILDINGS CONTEND FOR A SPOT ON NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

Two Cape Girardeau buildings have cleared the second of three hurdles to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The George B. Clark Home, 6 S. Fountain, and the Alliance Building or the Klostermann Block, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 S. Spanish, were approved Friday by the Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. The council met Thursday and Friday in Poplar Bluff.

Martha Bender, who serves on Cape Girardeau's Historic Preservation Commission and served two terms on the Missouri Advisory Council, said the final step is to submit the applications to the Keeper of the National Register in Washington, D.C.

The George B. Clark home is now the home of Bert and Mary Ann Kellerman. It has both architectural and historical significance, Bender explained.

The home is a two-story brick with Victorian-Queen Anne-Eastlake architecture. It was built in 1882 for George Boardman Clark by Edwin D. Deane. Deane also built the David A. Glenn House, which is already on the national register.

Clark was a former Missouri auditor who was one of the first officers of the Cape Girardeau Building and Loan Association. He was also part of early railroad development in the region and is associated with the development of Malden and Dunklin County.

The Klostermann Block is now home to Mollies Restaurant and two upstairs apartments. It is the remaining example in Cape Girardeau of the use of fabricated pressed metal ornamental siding, used on the entire upper facade of the commercial building. Although this was a fairly common practice throughout the country and Missouri, it was not a common practice in Cape Girardeau, Bender said.

It was established in 1887 by Louis F. Klostermann as a commercial development. His "Bee" Store became a leading retail establishment in Southeast Missouri and one of Cape Girardeau's chief mercantiles.

The nominations will be forwarded to the Keeper of the Register in Washington. Within 45 days after the nominations arrive, a determination will be made, Bender said.

Both nominations were written by Patrick H. Steele of Clarksville, Mo., who operates his own preservation company.

Cape Girardeau has six sites on the national register. Bender said many other buildings in the city would qualify for the national register. She said she hopes the city's preservation commission will work toward adding more sites to the list.