FUNDING FOR PARKS

Construction of the Shawnee Park Sports Complex and Osage Park Community Center will proceed. The Cape Girardeau City Council authorized a bid to Penzel Construction Co. at its meeting this week.

Still up in the air is where all the funding will come from. It now appears the project will cost $1.1 million more than the city budgeted.

Mayor Al Spradling III questioned the council's action of awarding a bid when no funding has been authorized. His point is well-reasoned. It is a habit that has gotten the federal government in big trouble: spend now, find the money later.

That isn't to say the city should retreat. The city has already spent $1 million on the two parks, mostly on grading. But the council should have allocated the dollars before authorizing the contract.

The total price tag will approach $5.3 million. The city issued $3.5 million in bonds for the project in 1992, with payment to come from city motel and restaurant tax revenue. The parks foundation has pledged another $500,000. But that still leaves the city more than $1 million short.

Both the Parks and Recreation Board and the Convention and Visitors Bureau Board are recommending the city issue more bonds and dig deeper into the motel and restaurant tax fund to pay for the additional cost. The city has issued bonds for the projects and is using the motel and restaurant tax revenue to retire the bonds.

The tax is expected to generate $850,000 this fiscal year. Of that, $300,000 has been budgeted for the CVB, and another $465,000 has been earmarked to repay the park project bonds. The tax, which is expected to grow to more than $1 million annually by fiscal year 2001, expires in 2004 when the Show Me Center bonds are retired.

The price of two park projects was probably miscalculated from the start. The first bid on the Shawnee portion came in way over budget, as did the second bid on both segments. The project has already been scaled back with input from the parks board, CVB and city staff. Among other things, the Shawnee Park concession building was moderated, and an elevated track, lockers and showers were cut from the community building.

The Osage Park community building will be situated at the southeast corner of the Lexington-Mount Auburn and Kingshighway intersection. Just a little over half of the 33,800-square-foot building is dedicated to recreational or convention activities. The ceiling height in this arena is 27 feet at the side walls and 41 feet at the roof's peak.

Two large meeting rooms will wrap around the large arena. These rooms will be subdivided by folding partitions into eight meeting rooms, with sizes averaging about 20 feet by 30 feet. The building will also include a staging area for caterers.

The Shawnee Sports complex will feature five softball fields, a central concession stand and four soccer fields.

The projects have been on the city's drawing boards for a number of years. No doubt all those involved want to proceed without further delay. But the city council would do well to pin down the exact funding sources at its next meeting.