Development at former Thorngate building is a plus for Cape Girardeau

There's an exciting development underway on Independence Street in Cape Girardeau.

Cape Girardeau-based Thorngate Holdings LLC announced its plans to renovate a former factory space to house 14 climate-controlled pickleball courts and vehicle park storage area. Demolition began earlier this month on the building.

The space has some history, previously serving as the Thorngate men's clothing factory and Blair Industries facility, a company that manufactured cases for CDs, DVDs and video games. It also served as a host location for then-presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008. But the building has been vacant for some time now, and the new businesses should breath some life into this part of town.

"These structures are popping up all over the country -- in places like Cape and in large metropolitan areas, too. From friends with multiple vehicles and car collectors, it's clear a car park is a definite need in town. When 1515 Independence went back on the market, we knew we could use it but there was too much space. So we came up with the idea of multiple pickleball courts," Jeff Brune, Thorngate Holdings spokesman, told the Southeast Missourian.

It's a development that's not requiring public assistance and should be a nice addition to this part of town. Pickleball has certainly gained quite the following, and we know there are a number of classic car enthusiasts in the area. We wish the developers well and look forward to seeing the finished product.