Cape Council to decide fate of former theatre building

Cape Girardeau City Council members will decide whether to save or raze the former Broadway Theatre at their meeting Monday, May 1.

Council members voted 6-1 -- Robbie Guard was the sole dissenter -- April 17 in favor of holding a public hearing Monday to settle the matter of what to do with the historic downtown building.

Broadway Theatre has been slated for demolition since last spring with final bids for the work already submitted to the municipality. But, an 11th-hour proposal from developer Brennon Todt at the council's March 6 meeting gave city leaders an option to potentially save the structure.

Council members voted 4-3 in favor of directing municipal staff to explore options other than demolition. Mayor Stacy Kinder, Guard and Shannon Truxel voted against the directive.

Todt's proposal outlined a three-phase, multiyear, multimillion-dollar plan to transform the dilapidated structure into various retail and residential spaces and a small movie theater -- maintaining the original purpose of the building.

The century-old Broadway Theatre has been closed since 1997. A March 2021 fire substantially damaged the roof and structural integrity of the building. The municipality extended numerous repair orders in the aftermath of the fire -- prior to the building being slated for demolition -- but all lapsed without significant progress.

At Monday's meeting, council members will listen to public comments before making a decision on two new ordinances, one to accept the development agreement, another to accept a demolition bid, which expires the next day.

The development agreement lays out a potential 25-year tax abatement for Todt and has the developer initially funding the cost of stabilizing the structure. The city would pay him back at certain stages of completion.

Todt -- who has a letter guaranteeing funding for the first phase of construction -- would be required to begin stabilization efforts within 30 days of the execution of the agreement.

The developer would get $100,000 if stabilization is complete within 90 days and the remaining $49,972.84 if he completes Phase 1 -- adding three retail spaces and two upper-level apartments -- within 15 months.

Todt would also be the recipient of a 50% property tax abatement under Chapter 353 of state law -- for municipality incentives for development issues in "blighted areas". The abatement would be contingent upon completion of the three phases. The first five years encompass Phase 1 with a potential decade addition for the completion of each additional phase.

The agreement also outlines a potential sales tax contribution from the city's 1% general sales tax to the developer to reimburse him for project costs.

Todt would not receive either the tax abatement or sales tax reimbursement if he fails to complete Phase 1.

If council members elected to go the demolition route, Strack Excavating, LLC submitted the low bid of $293,743 for the project -- more than $45,000 less than the engineer's estimate.

The bid must be voted upon prior to Tuesday, May 2, when it will expire, necessitating a restart to the bidding process.