TWO NEW TOWNS TO BE ADDED TO 'MAIN STREET'

Two new towns will be added to the Missouri Main Street Program and Old Town Cape merchants hope Cape Girardeau will be one of the two selected.

Judith Lang, a downtown store owner, and chairman of the Old Town Cape group here, will make the local group's wishes known during one of two main street application programs to be conducted in the state next week.

Lang, chairwoman of the Old Town Cape Board of Directors, and three other members of the board will attend a Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED) Main Street Program Application Workshop Thursday in Washington, Mo.

Attendance at one of the two day-long -- 9:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. -- workshops is a prerequisite to being selected as a Main Street city.

Lang will be accompanied to the Washington meeting by Old Town Cape board members Steve Hoffman, historic preservation, Southeast Missouri State University; Jerrie Wyman, Mollie's and Royal N'Orleans restaurants in downtown Cape Girardeau; and Ted Coalter, businessman, president of the Haarig Area Development Corp., vice chairman of the Old Town Cape group."Two members of the board must attend," said Lang. "We have four, and may be joined by others."Main Street applications will be available at the workshops."We have until January 6 to fill out the application and return it," said Lang.

Only communities with less than 50,000 in population may apply.

The selections will be announced in February of 2000.

Old Town Cape Inc. is the name selected for the local Main Street program that covers a wide area of downtown Cape Girardeau, which includes the downtown area, Haarig area, upper Broadway and old St. Vincent's Seminary, the proposed river campus of Southeast Missouri State University.

Official Missouri Main Street towns receive extensive technical assistance from a national network of individuals with a broad base of experience in downtown revitalization. Services will be provided for up to four years.

The Missouri Main Street Program does not offer direct financial grants to the designated communities, but the communities will receive in excess of $40,000 worth of downtown revitalization materials, on-site consultants and fund-raising assistance for up to four years. Some grants from other sources are available to participating towns.

Since the state program's inception, participating downtown organizations have witnessed the creation of more than 650 new businesses and 1,900 new jobs , with over 650 building renovations and $66,800,000 reinvested locally.

Among items to be discussed at next week's workshop will be the Main Street Four Point Approach and the criteria for selection.

Cape Girardeau's program has been on the move since March of this year, when a group visited Columbia, Ind., to view that program.

Since that time Old Town Cape has been formed, and four revitalization committees -- Design, Organization, Promotion and Economic Restructuring have been established.

Volunteers are still being sought for the four committees, which are meeting once or twice a month. The next meeting of the board will be Dec. 2.