Out of the past: Dec. 21

1999

​The Cape Girardeau Board of Education last night received the second of three cost estimates for construction of a high school; board members asked detailed questions of Tony Sebek of Regional Architects Coalition regarding the type of construction, building materials, durability and square-foot costs of Sebek’s proposal; he presented the school board a total construction cost of $26.2 million, or $114 per square foot, to build a 230,000-square-foot building next year; that is higher than the $25.1 million estimate submitted by Sverdrup CRRS of St. Louis last week; however, the newest estimate includes about 14,000 more square feet as well as a tournament gym, auditorium and performance athletic fields, minus necessary lighting.

Cape Girardeau architect John L. Boardman, who over a career of more than 40 years designed hundreds of buildings and supervised renovations of scores of other historic structures, died yesterday at a local hospital; Boardman, 73, imprinted his distinctive architectural style in Cape Girardeau, particularly in the downtown area; among survivors is his wife, Evelyn, who shares his interest in architecture and the arts.

1974

​Henry H. Gerecke, Cape Girardeau’s new police chief, says that although he plans policy changes to make the department more efficient, most of the changes under his administration will have to come from the individual policemen; Gerecke, who assumed his duties yesterday morning, met with Lts. William W. Stover and Donald R. Roberts, the two former interim chiefs, plus shift commanders and invited guests; from these meetings, the new chief hoped to become aware of both the needs of the force and the community.

The Salvation Army has more applications for Christmas food baskets than it can handle — unless there is a rush of last-minute donations by Cape Girardeans; hundreds of cans of foodstuffs were received by the Salvation Army yesterday, thanks to the sharing of pupils in city schools; but much more is needed, says Capt. Kenneth Sharp, Salvation Army officer; the organization has received more than 500 applications for holiday food baskets.

1949

​The State College Alumni Association, 10,000 members strong, enters the fight against any move to eliminate regional colleges and transfer their facilities to the University of Missouri; declares Cape Girardeau Mayor Walter H. Ford, president of the alumni association: “I can promise the people of Southeast Missouri that the alumni of State College are going to fight this thing through and exert all the influence possible to find out how the rumor started and then take steps to stamp it out.”

The Missouri Highway Department would like to acquire an 80-foot strip of land for use as a highway right of way, extending along the northeast edge of the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport, and an approximate one-acre area at the northeast corner, or 7.27 acres in all; while the department wishes to get the acreage for nothing, the Airport Board believes it should be compensated as neighboring property owners have been.

1924

​A Christmas vesper service is held in the evening in the auditorium at the Teachers College in the afternoon; the program includes a processional by the combined glee clubs of the college, Christmas carols by children of the Training School, scripture lesson by A.W. Vaughn, vocal solo by Laura St. Ann Keller, Christmas reading by Kathleen Gillard and hymns by the audience.

“Christianizing Christmas” is the subject for the morning sermon at First Christian Church delivered by the pastor, the Rev. C.H. Swift; emphasis is placed on the pagan side of Christmas; a Christmas cantata is given at the evening service at the church.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a weekend column called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper.