Work on upgrading bandshells in Cape, Jackson nearing completion

Cape Girardeau County’s two largest cities are zeroing in on finishing up work to upgrade the experience of attending municipal band concerts at the Dan Cotner Amphitheatre in Cape Girardeau and the Nick Leist Memorial Band Shell in Jackson.

Cape Girardeau

The amphitheater in Capaha Park was named in 2015 for Cotner, a retired dentist who played trombone for Cape Girardeau’s municipal band for 77 years.

“We’re making the site more handicap-accessible, with a brand-new stage and performing area,” said Parks and Recreation director Julia Jones, who added in addition to landscaping work, the amphitheater shell has already been painted and the roof replaced.

One of the most notable upgrades will be attractive to senior patrons.

“Many Chateau (Girardeau) residents told us they have enjoyed coming, but a number of them have mobility issues with the terrain, so we’ll have several terraced areas that will be flattened and concreted,” said Jones, who has directed her department for nearly 10 years.

“Folks in wheelchairs, for example, will be able to navigate their way more securely from the parking lot at Cherry Hill,” she said, noting lawn seating will still be available and attendees should continue to bring lawn chairs or blankets.

“It’ll still be grass; we didn’t want to take away from the casual ambiance,” Jones said.

The improvements to the Cotner Amphitheatre have an estimated price tag of $250,000 and is funded by voter passage of the renewed Parks, Recreation and Stormwater Phase 2 (PRS2) tax, approved by Cape Girardeau voters in April 2018.

“We are planning to be done, hopefully, with the amphitheater (upgrades) in mid-May, if the weather cooperates,” Jones said.

The first Cape Girardeau Municipal Band concert this year is set for 7:30 p.m. June 2.

The Cotner bandshell is just one of the projects to be funded in the city’s Capaha Park Master Plan, which also includes the Rose Garden, Cherry Hill and the park’s lagoon.

A construction crew from the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department lays concrete Monday for the Dan Cotner Amphitheatre at Capaha Park in Cape Girardeau.Sarah Yenesel

Jackson

The bandshell in Jackson City Park, built in 1976, is now named in memory of Nick Leist, a longtime music educator in the Jackson School District, and for 42 years, the conductor of the city’s municipal band.

Leist died in 2015 at the age of 74.

There are two projects underway at the Nick Leist Memorial Band Shell: adding a public restroom at the site and renovating the playing area’s interior.

Jackson’s director of parks and recreation, Shane West Anderson, said he is pleased with the progress.

“I was there Friday — everything looks like it is coming along really well; in fact, they appear to be ahead of schedule,” said Anderson, who has led his department for nearly 24 years.

“We also have a large number of attendees for our Thursday night (concerts) and I know a number of folks are going to be really thrilled there will be a restroom nearby,” he added.

In the bandshell interior, a storage room will be enlarged, Anderson noted.

“It’ll be climate controlled, too, so band equipment can be stored there during the summer months,” he said.

While Anderson is not able to specify a completion date for the projects, he said he believes it possible the restroom could be finished by the first 2021 concert at the bandshell scheduled 7 p.m. June 3, with special guest Doug Rees.

Anderson said the taxpayer-funded upgrades should cost approximately $200,000.

Just as in Cape Girardeau, the idea in Jackson is to preserve tradition.

“People will sit in lawn chairs or on blankets down the gently sloping hill,” Anderson said. “That’s how it’s been for decades.”

Work is ongoing on a new public restroom facility, seen at right, while students gather on the stage of the Nick Leist Memorial Band Shell on Monday in Jackson City Park in Jackson.Jeff Long