STATE, NATIONAL MAIN STREET OFFICIAL VISIT CAPE GIRARDEAU

State and national Main Street representatives visited two new Main Street communities this week: Fayette on Tuesday and Cape Girardeau on Wednesday.

Randy Gray, Missouri Main Street program coordinator in Jefferson City, and Sherri Stuart, a program associate with the National Main Street Center in Washington, D.C., visited with Cape Girardeau's Old Town Cape Main Street board, city and Southeast Missouri State University officials, and downtown business people.

"This is sort of a reconnaissance visit," said Gray. "We're here to meet and become acquainted with the people of Cape Girardeau."

Cape Girardeau and Fayette are the latest Main Street communities in Missouri. They were named by the governor's office last week as the 13th and 14th cities in the state to start the Main Street revitalization program.

"We've driven around the Main Street area here," said Stuart. "Cape Girardeau will be different from most areas. It's a larger district that actually consists of three different areas."

The program for Cape Girardeau encompasses an area from Water Street along Broadway to Pacific Street and to Morgan Oak, which leads to the Mississippi River bridge. It includes the primary downtown business area, the Haarig area, upper Broadway and old St. Vincent's Seminary, site of the proposed river campus of Southeast Missouri State University.

Gray and Stuart will be frequent visitors to Cape Girardeau. They will return March 9 and 10 to conduct workshops concerning Main Street.

"Education is the key to success in Main Street programs," said Stuart, who was a Main Street manager eight years before joining the National Main Street Center of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Main Street offers a revitalization framework appropriate to communities of all sizes, said Stuart. "It's not an overnight thing. I know some programs that have been operating 15 years and are still going strong."

As a Main Street community, Cape Girardeau is eligible for services and materials valued at more than $50,000 over a four-year period. They include consultation, planning workshops, market analysis and staff training.

"We offer experienced, professional help for your revitalization effort," said Gray. "Other services include assessment of commercial districts, fund-raising services, strategic and long-term planning."

At one time downtown was the only place to shop, said Stuart. With new shopping strips and malls, that is no longer the case, she said. "But with a good Main Street program, you can rebuild the economic and social vitality of the downtown and neighborhood commercial districts."

"We've been talking about the Main Street program four or five years," said Mayor Al Spradling III. "A lot of people deserve a lot of credit for getting it done."

A search soon will get under way for a full-time manager.