Share Central gymnasium memories at Saturday event

Cape Girardeau Central alumni and staff will gather Saturday morning for one last look at the old gymnasium at the junior high school.

The gym, built at what was then Central High School in the mid-1950s, will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The building, which has several structural issues, will soon be razed to make way for administrative offices, one of the projects included in a $20 million bond issue passed by voters in April. A new practice gym will be constructed.

Any building in service for six decades has stories to tell, especially when it is the setting for such an emotional period as a person's teen years.

The first game was played at the old gym in fall 1954. The first day of school that year, Sept. 7, was also the first day of integration in the Cape Girardeau School District, which would mean no segregated games were ever played on its floor.

Dianna Clark Todt recently told the Southeast Missourian the gym is special to her because of its connection with her romance with her high-school sweetheart and now husband of 40 years, Danny Todt. The couple got engaged the night they graduated.

Weldon Hager, a 1943 Central graduate, was an assistant coach at the high school; during his second year on the job, 1952, a new high school was built on Caruthers Avenue. The new building didn't have a gym at first, forcing practices to be held at the Arena Building or Franklin Elementary School.

"To me, it was like it was a gift from heaven," Hager said. Hager went on to become activities director and assistant principal, retiring from the district in 1992.

Longtime Central coach Terry Kitchen has a special fondness for the building, as well.

"This spot is really special to us who graduated from Central," said Kitchen, the junior high's athletic director and a member of the class of 1970. "This is always going to be kind of a sacred place for me."

The gymnasium holds a lot of memories for graduates of Central High School. We encourage alumni, current and former staff and anyone else with attachment to the gym to make the sentimental journey to Saturday's get-together.