Out of the past 10/9/10

25 years ago: Oct. 9, 1985

The ceremonial grand opening of the new Wal-Mart store here will be scheduled later, but the store at Silver Springs Road and Route K opens for business at 9 a.m.; the new 80,000-square-foot retail outlet replaces the Wal-Mart at Kingshighway and Route K.

Southeast Missouri State University's Board of Regents awards nearly $4.6 million worth of construction subcontracts for the university's new multipurpose building; the contracts are for electrical work, mechanical services, plumbing, fire prevention services, and for special resilient flooring in a portion of the building.

50 years ago: Oct. 9, 1960

Buildings long identified with the business life of Cape Girardeau are falling before wrecking crews as work progresses on a spacious parking lot at the corner of Broadway and Main Street; the building that formerly housed the Hutson Furniture store is rubble; still standing is the building owned by the Eakers family, which in olden times was the Palace Bar.

As part of Fire Prevention Week, all-week open houses are held at all three Cape Girardeau fire stations; most of the activities are centered around the main station at Frederick and Independence streets, where new firefighting equipment is displayed.

75 years ago: Oct. 9, 1935

The Cape Girardeau School Board has decided that school districts in the county, from which 28 black children come to Cape Girardeau to school, will have to pay tuition for those boys and girls if they remain in John S. Cobb School; the tuition charge is $4 monthly for grade school pupils and $3 monthly for those in high school.

Despite rain, a big downtown parade is held in the evening, featuring the evolution of fire fighting and fire prevention, in observance of Fire Prevention Week in Cape Girardeau.

100 years ago: Oct. 9, 1910

The terrible rains last week put the rock levee road out of commission; the concrete bridge that stood just outside the city limits and just north of the old toll house was washed away, and the bridge won't be passable until a new bridge is put in.

A new central energy switchboard is being installed in the Cape Bell Telephone building, at the corner of Ellis Street and Broadway; it won't be long before the telephone people will be doing business in their elegant new quarters.

-- Sharon K. Sanders