Zoning may scuttle man's plans for historic Pike Lodge

From schoolhouse to frat house to simply "house," the building at 2815 S. Sprigg St. in Cape Girardeau has a storied history.

What lies in store for its future, however, remains uncertain.

It served as a rural, two-room schoolhouse for Marquette School from 1924 to 1968 before being bought by the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity of Southeast Missouri State University in late 1974 to be used for social events. No one lived at the property the fraternity dubbed "Pike Lodge."

The fraternity chose in February 2013 to sell the house because of high maintenance costs and disuse.

A "For Sale" sign sat in front of the building for three months until it was bought by former fraternity member Quinn Strong.

Quinn Strong talks Wednesday about the renovations he has planned for the Pike Lodge building he purchased at 2815 S. Sprigg St. in Cape Girardeau. (Glenn Landberg)

The building held appeal to him for many reasons. Besides the sentimental attachment from his university days, Strong also admires historic properties, having helped restore several in the area.

When he bought Pike Lodge, his plan was to turn it into his personal home.

"Obviously, the timing was right, because my old fraternity wanted to sell it. And I always thought it would be cool to live in it, or at least I did back then," he said with a laugh.

Strong had the drive, know-how and passion to put in the amount of work it would take to renovate the property. He's worked on flooring, painting, trim and the plumbing and electrical systems over the past two years, but his efforts have slowed in recent months.

The building needs some significant work, including a new roof, and Strong has said since the beginning renovation would be financially possible only with the help of historic tax credits.

A look into a room Wednesday at the Pike Lodge building 2815 S. Sprigg St. in Cape Girardeau. (Glenn Landberg)

He was counting on the building being accepted into the National Register of Historic Places, because properties on the list are eligible for the federal tax credits.

An application was submitted for the property in 2013, but it didn't pass the review process.

Strong said Steven Hoffman, professor of history and coordinator of the Historic Preservation Program at Southeast Missouri State University, has "done more than I could have asked of him" in helping with the nomination.

Now, Strong has to decide when -- or whether -- he's going to try again with a new application.

There's one issue he worries is lessening his chances for National Register nomination.

He still needs to get the city to approve a rezoning request for the property.

It's zoned as M-2, intended for heavy manufacturing and industrial uses. It does not allow for residential use, although the city code of ordinances says dwelling or lodging units for "watchman, caretakers or other personnel whose residence is essential to the operation" of a permitted use is allowable.

City planner Ryan Shrimplin said after Strong's inquiry, staff members expressed some concerns about rezoning a single property in the area because the surrounding properties are zoned M-2.

A city zoning map shows all the properties south of Southern Expressway bounded by South Kings-

highway and the Mississippi River are zoned M-2.

"If the property were to be rezoned to a residential district, it would be considered an act of spot zoning," Shrimplin said in an email.

The term "spot zoning" refers to the zoning of a specific parcel or parcels of land within a larger zoned area where the rezoning is usually at odds with the city's master plan.

Shrimplin said the city's comprehensive plan recommends heavy industrial uses for the entire area, and the rezoning to a residential district would be at odds with the plan.

Still, he said, there are some options for Strong.

"Staff usually encourages the property owner to discuss the rezoning with the adjacent property owners to see if they are interested in having their properties rezoned too," Shrimplin said. "The more properties involved in the rezoning, the less it looks like a spot zoning action."

For now, Strong said he's weighing his options and trying to determine his next move.

His interest in renovating the building isn't limited to sentimental attachment.

Since becoming the owner of the former schoolhouse and Pike Lodge, Strong said he's been surprised by how many people in the community have a connection to the place. Sometimes, that connection spans generations.

"I was stopped one time by a woman who said she went to school here, and her daughter went to a party here, and her granddaughter went to a party here," he said.

He knows the building's reputation of "party house" may leave it with a checkered past in the eyes of some, but Strong said that's not what he has in mind.

He can point out the area where he plans to put his kitchen, where he would place the staircase to reach the top space he plans to convert into bedrooms.

But Strong realizes the plans may never become reality.

He said he's considered selling it and likely would take the right sale or lease offer.

"I have the perfect building without the ability to do anything with it," he said.

Besides the rezoning issue and the delay in the National Register nomination, Strong also deals with occasional vandalism.

A front window was shattered after someone threw a bucket of drywall through it. Another day, he found about eight mattresses discarded on the property.

But there is one issue Strong said he's never faced.

Rumors long have circulated about the ghost of a little girl named Jessica, a young student at Marquette who supposedly died after an accident at the school during the early 1900s.

An online search of the building's history yields several claims of spotting a little girl in white peeking out of windows or playing jump rope on the property.

But Strong said she has yet to make an appearance on his watch.

"That's never been substantiated," he said of the rumor. "We've had people come out here, had ghost hunters come out here. I've never seen her."

Pertinent address:

2815 S. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.