LOCAL STORE HELPS SPRUCE UP CIVIC CENTER

The Cape Girardeau Civic Center couldn't have begun its first day of renovations without the material and labor of a local business and its manager and employees.

Management and employees at Lowe's, the Cape Girardeau building materials retailer, donated mulch, flowers, toilets, floor tiles, lights, and perhaps most importantly, labor Saturday during the first day of work on a facelift for the Civic Center, said Fred Pennington, a center organizer.

"We wouldn't have been able to be here today if it wasn't for the guys at Lowe's," Pennington said.

Pennington and other center volunteers joined with the Lowe's employees and got to work in remodeling the Civic Center. Flowers were planted outside the building and weeds were cut.

Inside, new toilets and floor tiles were going in the bathroom. People were on the roof patching leaks and cleaning out gutters.

"We just felt like we could come down here, make a difference and help the community," said Keith Fosse, manager of Lowe's. "To be honest, the Civic Center is struggling. It's a good cause and we wanted to help."

Donations of time and money have become crucial to the Civic Center in recent months. The Area Wide United Way cut off the center's sole source of funding earlier this year because of concerns about how the center was being managed.

Without the funding, the center at 232 Broadway has been virtually shut down in recent months.

Fosse and 12 employees spent most of the day Saturday working at the center. One Lowe's employee came from the Paducah, Ky., store to volunteer his time.

"I just like to support the store and the company," said Kevin Austin, of Paducah. "When Keith told me about it, I knew it would be a good cause and good for the community.

"And what's good for the community is good for the store."

All the materials were donated by Lowe's. Fosse hasn't kept track of the cost of the donated material. He said that isn't the point: "We're just getting what we need," he said. "If we run out of something I just call and have someone bring out some more."

The decision to help the Civic Center came after Fosse heard that the center was in financial trouble and that organizers were wanting to make some improvements to the structure.

Last week Fosse and some employees evaluated the center to establish what main projects they wanted to concentrate on and where the greatest needs were.

Fosse said there is still much to be done.

"Lowe's by itself can't fix this," he said. "This is just a start. There has to be a tie-in with the community. There are a lot of good things happening here. People just need to get involved."

That's one of the reasons that he chose landscaping as one of the first projects.

"The building's right here on Broadway where people are always driving by," Fosse said. "We wanted them to drive by and see that something's going on. We hope that it might spur some public interest."

Civic Center leaders hope to have the organization reopen by the first of the year.