Shawnee Park to receive upgrades

A recently approved five-year plan will add numerous amenities.

By Mark Unterreiner ~ Southeast Missourian

The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Board of Directors approved a five-year plan July 12th to make improvements to Cape's Shawnee Park beginning this fall.

The project involves building a large pavilion and playground unit where the current pavilion stands, adding team benches to certain fields and establishing two more soccer fields near the softball complex. Also included in the plan is additional restrooms and concession stands, mainly for tournaments.

"The playground gives the little sisters and brothers something to do while their sisters and brothers are playing," said Dan Muser, director of the Parks and Rec Department. "People who live around the area will use the playground, too; it's not just for the people using the soccer fields.

"The bigger pavilion will provide extra space," he added. "It gives people more room to get out of the rain or any kind of bad weather, and it doesn't have to be used for soccer purposes, either; families could use it for picnics if they wanted."

The improvements are expected to total to nearly $150,000, and the Cape Area Youth Soccer Association will raise money from soccer tournaments and leagues, but will primarily rely on solicitations to bring in the money.

"It'll probably take five years to raise the funds," said Dan Muser, director of the Parks and Rec Department. "The city will provide the labor for putting up some of the facilities, but in terms of money for the project, that's coming from the soccer association. They're probably going to try to do some fund-raising within the organization and go out and talk to some business people."

Muser said that the project has been on the Park and Rec's checklist since it devised a master plan three years ago for improvements around the city.

"This is not anything that's out of the ordinary as far as what our master plan is," he said. "Probably none of these ideas are new ideas. We've looked at these same things for the last 15-20 years. It's just a matter of marking some things off the list."

Since the organization began 20 years ago, CAYSA has made several additions around Shawnee Park, including lights on three fields, irrigation systems on four fields and the current concession facility.

"For the last 20 years, it's just been a soccer park," said Debbie Lusk, CAYSA vice president. "We want to make it more family-friendly, and we think the pavilion and the playground will help with that."