Schock therapy for Scott City

Paul Schock settled in Scott City when he moved from Arizona to begin teaching art at Southeast Missouri State University in the summer of 2001. The blue-collar, railroad town of 5,000 does not suit many college professors, but neither do Schock's long hair and motorcycle jacket.

Though real estate agents tried to convince him otherwise, Schock knew he wanted to live in Scott City the moment he saw the 100-year-old former Harmon's Furniture building. He knew what he wanted to do.

After buying the empty 14,000-square-foot building at the corner of Second and Mar Elm streets, he removed five layers of wallpaper in some places and refinished the floors. He bought three buildings on Second Street in all.

He has become a one-man redevelopment program.

"I wanted to help the community," he said. "I know there are a lot of possibilities in this area."

The furniture building has been transformed into the Schock Community Arts Center, which has been host to a few art shows and other events so far and eventually will offer a coffee bar and banquet and meeting facilities. A Little Theatre and poetry readings are planned.

A folk music concert at the center Saturday afternoon will be broadcast two weeks later on KRCU-FM 90.9. The concert is being co-sponsored by KRCU and the Scott City Historic Preservation Commission.

This has occurred in a part of Scott City -- the older area that was downtown Illmo -- that has been in decline since Illmo-Scott City voters decided to consolidate the two cities in 1979. Most Scott City businesses are located on Main Street in the newer part of town closer to Interstate 55.

Scott City Mayor Tim Porch said Schock has sparked new interest in the area, and he hopes what Schock is doing will attract others.

"I think it's just a matter of finding the right people to fill the buildings that are there," he said.

He compared the Second Street area of town to downtown Cape Girardeau, which has survived because a few business people refused to give in to the lure of interstate traffic.

The public attraction of Schock's art gallery or museum can make a difference, Porch said.

"We're glad to have him," he said. "He's a welcome addition to this community."

Schock the builder

Schock served as his own construction contractor and foreman when he transformed a 60,000-square-foot YMCA into a similar arts center in Tucson. He said his affinity for construction is mirrored by much of the art he creates. He currently has an installation at the University Museum in Cape Girardeau. He has renovated and rented out one of the five apartments he plans for the arts center's second floor. He also lives upstairs.

Up and across the road at 506 Second St. he bought another brick building with a "Jesus Saves" mural on one outside wall. Part of it will be occupied by the Scott County Historic Preservation Commission, which plans to establish a museum there. Schock will teach art classes in another part.

Further up the street at 601 Second St., he bought a former drugstore that was later a bar. He plans to renovate it and find a badly needed restaurant for a tenant.

Business corridor

Other business people in this commercial district have embraced Schock's enthusiasm. There are two florist shops, two barbershops and a hardware store in the vicinity.

"I don't think people realize how much of a business district this is," says Barb Lynch, owner of the Floral Connection.

Second Street is the corridor many tourists follow when headed to the River Ridge Winery in Commerce, Mo.

The hardware store Don Roth owns has been in business here since 1946. He has owned Roth Hardware since 1977. Commerce on Second Street has been slow in recent years, he said.

"Business is not what it should be. I'll be the first to admit it."

He expects Schock's projects to bring traffic back onto Second Street.

Lynch has been in the floral business 28 years. Losing the Bank of Illmo in the 1980s and the closure of the library in the 1980s signaled the beginning of the downslide for the area, she said.

An average of 75 to 80 cars per hour go down Second Street. Scott City's challenge is to get people off the interstate and into town because the configuration of its exit creates backups and accidents. Attracting business to town is troublesome, Porch said.

"Just getting in and out of town is a pain."

During the Mississippi Valley Scenic Drive April 26-27, another afternoon concert will be held at the arts center in addition to an art exhibition, the Salon de Refuse, by senior art students at Southeast. The Scott City Chamber of Commerce will sponsor a flea market and arts-and-crafts sale at the building that weekend. A fish fry is planned after the concert.

Other events are planned elsewhere in the city. "I think we're on a roll right now," said Carolyn Pendergrass, president of the Scott City Historical Preservation Commission. " He's a great motivator."

The museum will include artifacts from Scott City's railroading past in addition to other artifacts currently in storage or at people's houses. Some are stored at The Caboose, the restored railroad car maintained by the commission.

The 15-member commission also is working on a play called "The Phantom of the Illmo Opera" to be performed at the arts center this summer or in the fall.

Pendergrass says the number of well-built older buildings in the Illmo part of town is due to the healthy development that occurred there during the early part of the 20th century. "Illmo was not affected by the Depression because we had the railroad that was just getting strong," she said.

She mourns the loss of one Scott City building, the old railroad depot torn down about 15 years ago.

Schock has not stopped dreaming about the possibilities of making Scott City an arts magnet. He plans to paint murals on all his buildings and says Scott City is ripe for a sculpture park.

It won't happen overnight, he knows.

"I'm working on one project at a time."

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182