Out of the past: Feb. 5

2000

​The City of Cape Girardeau will seek federal funding to construct the 6,100-foot-long hiking and biking trail from Sloan Creek southward to the River Campus on the river side of the Mississippi River floodwall; the project would also expand Riverfront Park and the old landing area south of the park; a pedestrian bridge would be built over Sloan Creek.

The old Notre Dame High School at 1912 Ritter Drive is now the De Paul Center; Wanda Drury donated $300,000 to St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Parish to buy the building that housed the Catholic high school until 1998; full utilization of the 14-acre site, which incudes the high school building, a 10-bedroom convent and baseball and soccer fields, are in the planning stages; for now, the parish is using the old high school for adult religious education, Sunday school classes and hospitality gatherings.

1975

​A Southeast Missouri man, W.C. Banta of Charleston, is one of four who have filed suit to recapture Missouri Board of Education seats taken from them by Gov. Christopher S. Bond; the board is the second to be involved in a suit challenging the governor’s appointments to commissions and boards following state government reorganization last summer; Banta, an attorney, joined John M. Morris Jr. of Rolla, Harvey B. Young of Kirksville and Jack Webster of Springfield in filing the suit Tuesday in Cole County Circuit Court at Jefferson City

The Notre Dame Bulldogs have trouble shooting free throws, but they did the job when they had to last night, hitting five in overtime to win their classic crosstown confrontation against the Cape Girardeau Central Tigers, 63-58, before a near-capacity crowd at Houck Field House; it was the first sweep of the basketball series for the Bulldogs in four years.

1950

​The Cape Girardeau Church of the Nazarene last week purchased the five-room dwelling at 1215 Merriwether St., three doors east of the church; according to the pastor, the Rev. C.E. Fleshman, the one-story frame structure is the third acquired by the church, all of which are on adjacent lots facing Merriwether; the church now owns all property on the south side of Merriwether from the church east to the alley; the church is looking toward an expansion program, which will call for an addition to the church building to afford overflow rooms from the auditorium, as well as a baptistry and an education building; a new parsonage is also being planned.

A special meeting will be held Monday night at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Jackson, at which time H.A Pearce of Bonsack-Pearce, architects of St. Louis, will discuss the blueprints of the proposed new Lutheran school building.

1925

​Members of the Lions Club have voted to abandon the idea of holding a radio show at this time, after a committee planning the show recommended that the scheme be dropped; lack of interest by distributors, manufacturers and local dealers is the reason given why the show shouldn’t be held.

Cape Girardeau’s corporate limits are formally extended at 1:05 this afternoon; the City Council approves the vote at Tuesday’s special election, adopts the necessary legal ordinances to take in the annexed territory, and orders a proclamation issued calling attention to the extension; Cape Girardeau now officially ranks among the 10 largest cities in Missouri, with a population estimated by city officials at from 16,000 to 18,000 persons; through the annexation, the physical proportions of the city were doubled.

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.