SITE DATA NEEDED

The Cape Girardeau City Council has ranked what it has determined is the public's preferences for the site of a new federal courthouse. Topping the list is the old St. Francis hospital building (at Good Hope and Pacific streets), followed by the Happy Hollow area (next to City Hall on Independence Street) and the 400 block of Broadway.

The council ranked the choices, but council members didn't take a stand. Councilmen acquiesced to two large gatherings and more than 1,500 names gathered on petitions. Council members were careful to say they weren't expressing an opinion themselves but merely passing on the public's view. The council played show to the audience.

The vote was unanimous. Councilman Melvin Kasten properly abstained because his wife, state Rep. Mary Kasten, is leading an effort to preserve the old hospital structure and convert it into a state building for social services.

That isn't to say the old hospital isn't a perfectly good site. But the council and the General Services Administration seem bent on making decisions with very little information at hand.

The city has an obligation to look at all factors -- not just public sentiment -- to make a thoughtful recommendation.

Too many questions are still left unanswered. Which site would be most cost effective? A cost analysis of the various sites has yet to be done. Is Happy Hollow, a former dump site of nearly six acres west of City Hall, a real option. Or would buried waste negate its use? The list of questions goes on and on.

If it were a business looking to build, you can bet all the facts and figures would be pinned down. Let's not forget that the GSA is spending taxpayer dollars. As such, citizens should call for the best use of that money. Making decisions without regard to costs already has the federal government awash in red ink.

If the city is unwilling to analyze the various sites, then it should pressure the federal government to do so before a choice is made. Facts -- not just sentiment -- should decide the location of this massive project.