Out of the past: Feb. 11

2000

​Fire last night destroyed the home of Rich Porzelt a few miles north of Oriole; the sprawling, century-old farmhouse had been home to Rich and Beverly Porzelt for the last 26 years; no one was injured — their children are all grown and married — but most of the family’s personal property was lost.

CHARLESTON — A bipartisan group of officials, led by Gov. Mel Carnahan, is on hand for a ceremony to mark the start of construction of the Southeast Correctional Center; some 200 local and state officials and area residents attend the groundbreaking ceremony held at the future site of the prison just outside the Charleston city limits near Interstate 58; the prison is expected to begin housing inmates by August 2001.

1975

​Members off the Cape Girardeau Board of Education voted last night to close Lorimier School for regular elementary classes because of declining enrollment, but its doors will remain open for other educational, public and community purposes; in other action, a motion to consider providing school-owned property requested by the State Department of Education as a site for a School for the Severely Handicapped was defeated on a split vote, 3 to 3.

BENTON — The Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority, which for four months has been getting promises that funds would be available from the Missouri Division of Community Development for economic feasibility studies on a Mississippi River port, wants answers on why funds for the joint study by Cape Girardeau and Scott counties are being held up.

1950

​Cape Girardeau’s public schools are carrying 532 pupils more than their designed capacity, and there is no indication that the situation will improve; a report by the school board’s building and grounds committee shows that Central High, built to care for about 500 students, now has an enrollment of 745; Washington School, built for 420, now has 471; Franklin, built for 450, has 553; May Greene, built for 420, has 506; Lorimier, built for 260, has 307; outmoded Jefferson School only houses the first three grades for safety reasons; the same numbers for John S. Cobb School weren’t provided.

Former residents of Cape Girardeau, Mr. and Mrs. Tru Taylor, and daughter, Beverly, are weekend guests in the city; while here, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are being entertained by Professor and Mrs. Robert R. Hill, 508 N. West End Blvd., while Beverly is the house guest of Mary Rixman, 1438 Luce St.; Tru Taylor is superintendent of Bethesda Hospital in St. Louis.

1925

​The office of building inspector, whose duties will be to oversee construction of new buildings, eliminate fire hazards, test the plumbing and examine the electrical equipment and wiring, is to be created by the Cape Girardeau City Council; for the present, it is planned to combine the offices of building, plumbing and electrical wiring inspector, it is explained.

At an impressive ceremony last night at Park Theater, with nearly 100 Scouts standing at attention, four Cape Girardeans were given the highest honor the Boy Scouts of America can confer on a civilian — that of “honorary tenderfoot scout”; invested with the honor were Mayor James A. Barks, Charles L. Harrison, George L. Meyer and James A. Kinder.

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.