WORK IN PROGRESS: HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OF GREATER CAPE GIRARDEAU CELEBRATES 25TH ANNIVERSARY

The Historical Association of Greater Cape Girardeau celebrates its 25th anniversary this week with plans to continue work started a quarter century ago.

"I think we have people who are committed to seeing that the things that were good about the past stay here for the future," said Doris Dace, president of the association.

"In order to do that, you need to have some sort of organization to guard those items. The historical association is that organization."

The association grew from a suggestion of Cape Girardeau teenagers, members of the Teen Age Club of the 1960s. The youngsters were interested in doing something constructive for the city. They motivated adults to organize an association dedicated to preserving Cape Girardeau's heritage.

The organizational meeting was held Feb. 19, 1967.

One of the first projects of the fledgling association was selecting an old house to be restored. A year later, the Glenn House at 325 S. Spanish was donated to the association.

Since this beginning, the Glenn House has been a major project of the association, but Dace said the group does a lot more.

"We try to keep from becoming a Glenn House association," she said. "We want people to know that we are striving to do more than just keep up the Glenn House."

The Reynolds House, 623 N. Main, is a work in progress for the association. But not much progress has been made lately.

"We would really like to do something with the Reynolds House, but cost is a factor," Dace said.

The north side of the building has some structural damage a crack in the brick wall, which is gradually getting worse.

"We have members who could take a window home and strip it and do a lot of the restoration work," she said. "But before we can do that type of work, we need to give serious attention to the north wall. The bricks have split from the rest of the house and we think it will cost thousands of dollars to get that fixed."

Dace said the association is beginning to think seriously about diverting funds to that project.

The house, which is older than the Glenn House, is a "charming example of a more modest home," Dace said. The plan has been to restore this residence and furnish it in the style of a typical farm family of that time.

However, until the structural problems are resolved, those plans remain on hold.

"We do plan right now as part of the bicentennial celebration to have a hands-on history day in September 1993 at the Reynolds House," she said. "The idea is to set up tables all over the grounds and have old utensils available for children to try, like a cherry pitter, a coffee grinder and a corn sheller."

Dace admitted that the Glenn House does garner a considerable amount of attention from the association.

"The Glenn House is just like any other house. It's an ongoing process of keeping it up and making repairs when needed," she said.

But the repairs sometimes are a challenge.

About five years ago, some roof problems at the Glenn House damaged the ceilings. The Glenn House ceilings feature stenciled designs. To repair the ceilings, an artist, Blair Brown, was called in to repaint the damaged designs.

"The paint had aged through the years and changed colors, but he matched the paint so we didn't have to repaint the entire house. I defy you to pick out where his work begins and the old paint ends."

Other roof problems also caused problems with the mortar of the brick house. Dace said some tuckpointing is being done to repair the damage.

"One of the reasons we have been able to do this maintenance work is because we were the beneficiary of a will," Dace said. "Edna Boyce Kassel left us a bequest that allowed us to do some of the much needed repairs."

This year, a hackberry tree died and was cut down at the Glenn House. "When the tree splits and the house is threatened, you remove the tree," Dace said. "We still have one large hackberry tree." She said steps are being taken to keep that tree in place.

This spring, local garden clubs will be planting Victorian style gardens at the Glenn House. David Niswonger, a local expert on irises, will be planting some of those bulbs also.

"Our spring opening is April 1, but our grand opening will be April 25 and 26, the days of the Mississippi River Valley tour," Dace said.

During the grand opening, the association will sponsor an herb sale at the Carriage House. Children with a paying adult will receive a free bald Cyprus seedling.

A historic preservation class from Southeast Missouri State University is doing an inventory of the Glenn House collection as part of its course work.

"We have felt for a long time that we needed to have this done," Dace said. "They are assessing the condition of the pieces as well as what we have.

"We want a good inventory for insurance purposes and just so we know what our collection contains. We also want to know what condition the items are in. The students and professors are much more knowledgeable about proper storage. We hope to learn from them as they learn from us."

The association is planning a major fundraiser March 27 and 28 a murder mystery at the Glenn House with an authentic Victorian dinner catered by Mollies. The mystery is titled "Murder so Foul."

Seating is limited to 25 people per night. Tickets are $60 per couple or $35 per person. For more information, call 334-1177.

The association has a new marketing director, John Bry, a student in historic preservation at Southeast.

Bry is involved in special events like the murder mystery and setting up tours.

"We are interested in him getting more tourist business for us," Dace said.

An organization for people interested in restoring old homes has evolved from the historical association. The Downtown Homeowners Association was formed about a year ago and is a subsidiary group of the historical association.

Cape Girardeau has just seven sites on the National Register.

"For a town this size and age, that is a really low number," Dace said. "It means the historical association has a lot of work to do."