Urban planner: Tiny-homes park, learning barge, sculptures could revitalize Red Star area

Cape Girardeau's Red Star neighborhood could benefit from a tiny-homes park as well as trails, a learning barge and riverfront or in-river sculptures, an urban planner has suggested.

Other suggestions include a demonstration rice field, remediation of Sloan Creek to a "more natural environment," shoreline recreation fields and a "maker faire" that could celebrate the manufacturing history of the neighborhood.

Vagn Hansen II of North Carolina-based Benchmark Planning recently outlined the concepts at a meeting with Cape Girardeau city planner Ryan Shrimplin and leaders of the Red Star Neighborhood Revival organization.

Benchmark Planning, which also has an office in St. Louis, has agreed to provide up to 100 hours of pro bono urban planning to help improve the neighborhood.

Shrimplin said the ideas are just concepts at this point with no cost estimates or funding sources. Some ideas are more likely to reach fruition than others, he said. Trails are a realistic option, he and Red Star Revival officials said.

One possibility would be to create a walking trail that would connect to Cape Rock Park, overlooking the Mississippi River.

Hansen said planning will continue through the winter, with a goal of presenting more focused options at an open-house format, public meeting in the Red Star neighborhood in March.

The meeting would be held to obtain public opinions on the proposals before finalizing the plan, he said.

The not-for-profit Red Star Neighborhood Revival organization was formed as part of the city's neighborhood development initiative.

Much of the planning effort focuses on an 18-acre area of now-vacant lots, the result of flood buyouts.

When public rights of way are included, the area could encompass about 25 acres, Hansen estimated.

The area runs from Spanish Street to the Mississippi River and from Fourth Street on the north to Second Street on the south, Shrimplin said.

Hansen suggested a tiny-homes RV park could be developed along the riverfront in cooperation with the nearby Isle Casino. The tiny houses on wheels amount to "recreational vehicles," he said. Such houses could be 400 to 500 square feet.

Federal flood-control regulations prohibit construction of permanent buildings in the buyout area. But Hansen said a tiny-home park would be allowed, because such structures could be moved if the river floods.

He said a tiny-homes park could be more desirable than "a plain, old RV park." Hansen said it might entice a tiny-home manufacturer to locate in the community.

But Dan Presson, vice president of the Red Star neighborhood organization, voiced concern about the idea of introducing "large-scale, transient living" to that area.

Hansen said the site could be limited to "maybe a dozen" tiny homes.

He added, "It may be pie in the sky. It may be crazy."

But according to an initial planning document, tiny homes "could bring a unique character to Red Star" and take advantage of the existing street grid and sewer and water infrastructure.

Hansen said it also could tie in with a "maker faire" that could focus on tiny-home construction. According to the preliminary planning document, such fairs have proliferated nationwide since 2006.

Presson and other members of the group want to encourage more homeownership and investment in the neighborhood.

"A major issue we have is lack of proper lighting," he said.

Presson said he favors creating new walking trails that would connect to Southeast Missouri State University.

A sculpture with a river theme appeals to him, too.

"I have always wanted an in-water sculpture of a catfish," he said. "Cape Girardeau needs a big catfish or something jumping out of the water."

Presson and Shrimplin said the neighborhood needs something that would draw people.

Shrimplin told the group, "You've got the view of the river, but you need something else to market."

Shrimplin added, "The area is kind of perceived as an eyesore now."

Presson said an educational component would be "a wonderful use of the property."

Hansen suggested a learning center could be built on a barge and docked on the shore. According to the preliminary planning document, the center could focus on the Mississippi River environment as well as "sustainable development" involving recycled water, solar energy and recycled construction materials.

Hansen said that type of environment-oriented learning center operates on the Elizabeth River in Virginia.

Construction and management of such a learning center in Cape Girardeau would require partnerships with the Missouri Department of Conservation and other agencies, he said. Hansen added such a project likely would not be the first revitalization project the city would seek to tackle.

But sculptures and projects such as a floating learning center could help "pull people toward the river," Hansen said.

The Red Star riverfront sits along a bend of the Mississippi River, which provides good views of the river and the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, according to the preliminary planning document.

Hansen suggested a section of land along the river could be used for rice research or other urban agricultural options.

"As for as agricultural goes, rice is the one thing that doesn't mind being flooded," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

Red Star neighborhood, Cape Girardeau, Mo.