DOWNTOWN EFFORT MOVING AHEAD

There are very few cities in America that have managed to keep their retail and commercial centers downtown. Shopping centers and office parks have drawn most businesses to the edges of cities and to areas where new subdivisions are located.

One of the few exceptions is Lawrence, Kan., home of the University of Kansas. City officials has repeatedly thwarted efforts to develop major new shopping districts. As a result, downtown Lawrence is a thriving shopping district sprinkled with popular restaurants and art galleries. But the pressure is always there to build a new shopping center near the housing areas on the city's western edge.

Until a few years ago, downtown Columbia, Mo., home of the University of Missouri's main campus, also was a bustling commercial area. Merchants in that area adopted streetside improvements that connected block after block of the well-established area within walking distance of the MU campus. Columbia's downtown is still thriving, but a new shopping center and other commercial development on the western edge of the city have drawn away many downtown mainstays.

Cape Girardeau's downtown is like that many cities our size. Most of the major retailers and certainly most of the new businesses have relocated far to the west, first along Kingshighway, and then near Interstate 55.

But our downtown, particularly that area next to the Mississippi River, has managed to develop an identity of its own. It is full of shops and restaurants and bars that cater to customers who like to go downtown to shop or for an evening out.

There are sections of downtown, however, that haven't fared so well. "Downtown" in Cape Girardeau is a large area, extending from the river to Pacific Street and from Broadway to Morgan Oak Street. This includes the once-active Broadway shopping area, the Good Hope commercial area (known as the Haarig district) and the Morgan Oak business district along the main route to the bridge across the river.

Early this year, that downtown area was officially designated as a participant in the Missouri Main Street Program. This program, which is used by other states as well, is an attempt to spur renewal of traditional downtowns that have been affected, in one way or another, by shifts is commercial development.

Supporters of the Main Street program have been doing a lot of groundwork in preparation for projects to further enhance downtown Cape Girardeau. Given the success of this program in other cities, it can be expected that our downtown will see benefits as well in years to come.