Downtown plan: a vision, not a specific blueprint

Old Town Cape revealed its comprehensive plan for downtown development to the Cape Girardeau City Council last week.

It’s easy to be skeptical of such plans, because they can be almost absurdly optimistic at times.

But it’s important to remember a couple of things: 1.) The plan is only a vision of what is possible, and 2.) portions of absurdly optimistic downtown plans already have come to fruition.

Downtown Cape was at a precipice not long ago. Broadway was nearly a ghost town. There was no casino. No foot traffic to speak of. No trees lining the sidewalks. The Marquette building and H&H buildings were vacant, with not much hope in sight. The old federal building and bank building next door were empty or largely empty. But there were plans, hopes, visions of something different, and many of those absurdly optimistic hopes have been realized after major steps were taken, in terms of infrastructure and funding, both public and private.

So the plan put forth includes a lot of projects — some that will happen, and some that won’t. Maybe we’ll get a science center; maybe we won’t. Maybe a parking garage will be built, or maybe other solutions will work their way forward.

So, city manager Scott Meyer is correct when he says, “the value of this type of plan cannot be underestimated,” but it’s also true the brilliance of any such plan is it’s flexible and can bend as market forces play out.

It’s not an exact blueprint, but it does hit on important themes such as focusing on housing and parking.

As we’ve reported recently, the city is moving in a positive direction in many areas. More people are visiting the city, as proven by hotel stays; momentum is building for improvements on the city’s south side; we’re about to see the completion of a new police station in midtown, a new fire station on the west side; and here again we see that downtown can be much more than it is today, which is much more than it was at the turn of the century.

Discussions, visions, meetings and plans: they’re all necessary to improve the quality of life of the city. And they all come before action is taken.