City capital improvements plan envisions $3.7 million in renovations to Common Pleas Courthouse, Annex

Renovations to the Common Pleas Courthouse and Annex, estimated to cost more than $3.7 million, are among the projects outlined by city staff in a rolling, five-year capital improvements plan.

Development services director Alex McElroy outlined the plan during Tuesday’s city council study session.

Renovating the Common Pleas Courthouse could cost an estimated $2.2 million for everything from lead and asbestos abatement to plumbing, heating and air conditioning and electrical upgrades, and tuck pointing and waterproofing the brick exterior, according to the itemized plan.

Upgrades to the Courthouse Annex, including adding an elevator, could cost nearly $1.5 million, the plan envisions.

How those projects would be paid for has not been determined, according to city staff.

City officials have not decided what to do with the historic courthouse overlooking downtown Cape Girardeau and the adjacent Courthouse Annex.

Mayor Bob Fox said city officials hope to meet soon with representatives of the city’s historical society, the River Heritage Museum, and Southeast Missouri State University to discuss how best to use the properties in the future.

The Common Pleas Courthouse currently houses some circuit court offices and courtrooms. But Cape Girardeau County government plans to vacate the old courthouse in 2020 once it completes a new justice center in Jackson.

Other satellite county offices moved out of the Annex last year. That building is now vacant.

After Tuesday’s meeting, McElroy said city officials will have to make some decisions soon as a result of the impending vacancy.

The five-year plan drawn up by city staff doesn’t spell out possible uses of the old courthouse and Annex.

Cape Girardeau’s iconic courthouse dates to 1854. The Annex was originally built as a Carnegie Library, which opened in 1922.

The city’s Historic Preservation Commission placed the Annex on its annual list of endangered buildings last year.

The Cape River Heritage Museum board of directors has proposed relocating to the Courthouse Annex. The museum now is housed at Independence and Frederick streets in a former city fire station.

Several individuals involved with the museum and Cape Girardeau historical preservation efforts attended the study session. Fox told them he understands their interest in the future of both buildings.

While the capital plan envisions some renovations being made to the two buildings in 2020, there is no timetable on what to do about the future of city hall.

Cape Girardeau city officials are housed in a former elementary school on Independence Street.

An architectural firm hired by the city has recommended construction of a new city hall on the grounds of the existing facility at an estimated cost of $19 million.

City officials have taken no vote on whether to proceed with constructing a new city hall.

At this point, McElroy said, a city hall project is a “major unfunded need.”

The five-year plan outlines $71.2 million worth of projects for fiscal years 2019 to 2024. It covers everything from roads to water and sewer improvements, and projects involving facilities, information technology and city vehicles.

Nearly $115 million in unfunded projects are also listed in the capital improvements plan.

Fox said, “It is a pretty good list.”

The council intends to discuss the capital improvements plan in more detail at its Feb. 4 meeting, city officials said.

The plan is revised annually and approved by the council as required under the city charter.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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