Work on splash pad, new restroom in early stages at Capaha Park

Excavation is underway in Capaha Park as the city�s plans to install a splash pad and other amenities moves forward.

Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation director Julia Jones said in addition to the splash pad, the city will install a restroom facility to replace portable toilets and renovate the existing nearby pavilion.

�The splash pad won�t go in until next spring,� Jones said. �Installing utilities will take us this fall and into winter for sure, and when the weather breaks, we�ll be able to install the water features. We�re hoping to have it open before the kids get out of school.�

Cape Girardeau's first public swimming pool is seen in this photo, taken in 1919 in Capaha Park.Southeast Missourian file

But before the necessary utilities can be installed, crews had to remove the concrete remnants of the city�s first public swimming pool, which was closed in 1955, filled in with dirt and planted over.

�We couldn�t have any of that old building structure underneath,� Jones said.

That original pool opened July 4, 1919, when Capaha Park featured a racetrack instead of a pond. That pool remained in use until 1950, when it was closed by the state division of health. It reopened in 1952, but was closed permanently three years later. In 1956, voters passed a $149,000 bond measure to fund a new pool in the park just up the hill.

Jones said the current work constitutes the second phase of the city�s master plan for Capaha Park, funded by the parks tax voters passed in 2008.

�I think we�re probably right at a half a million dollars,� she said of the cost of the project. �And we�re doing most of the work in-house.�

The first phase of the project was the contstruction of the playground and copper-topped pavilion on the park�s east side. That phase of the project coincidentally sits on the site of the city�s second public pool, which opened in August 1957.

�We�re also working on renovations to Capaha ballfield,� Jones said.

Those improvements include re-asphalting the roadway, upgrades to the grandstand seating and sidewalks, installation of a new fence around the park as well as new sports lighting.

�We actually just signed the contract on that (lighting) today,� Jones said Tuesday.

The ballfield renovations are scheduled for completion by February to be ready for the Southeast Missouri State University Redhawks� baseball season, as well as the debut of the Cape Catfish Prospect League team.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573)388-3627