State to replace Red Star boat ramp, improve site

~ Construction, which may start in December, could keep the site closed for six months.

The Missouri Conservation Department will replace the worn-out concrete boat ramp at the agency's Red Star access site on the Mississippi River in Cape Girardeau. But a new ramp and other improvements will come at some inconvenience for area boaters and fishermen.

Construction, which may start in December, could keep the site closed for six months, said conservation official Rocky Hayes.

"Unfortunately, we really don't have another access site right here in Cape Girardeau," he said.

The Red Star site is used by boaters and fishermen year-round. Towboat crews come ashore there. The city's fire and rescue squad launches from that site. Coast Guard and Corps of Engineers personnel use it too.

"There just aren't many places to get onto the river," Hayes said.

Hayes believes boaters and fishermen will like the improvements. But during construction, they'll have to use boat ramps at Thebes, Ill., the Diversion Channel site near Cape Girardeau or at Trail of Tears State Park north of Cape Girardeau, he said.

"It is not going to be as convenient," he said. "I just hope folks are patient during the construction process."

'Worth the wait'

Fisherman Harold Dodd of Millersville won't complain. "It is going to be worth the wait," said Dodd, who regularly fishes for catfish in the Mississippi River.

"We are long overdue for a good boat ramp on the Missouri side," he said.

The boat ramp at Trail of Tears State Park is often clogged with silt, Dodd said. The Diversion Channel ramp isn't an option for the larger fishing boats when the water level is low, he said.

Dodd said he and others who regularly fish the Mississippi River will put into the water at Thebes while the Cape Girardeau site is shut down.

Cape Girardeau's fire and rescue personnel will be able to put their small boats into the river at the riverfront in an emergency, said assistant fire chief Mark Hasheider.

Other points of entry include the Diversion Channel boat ramp or at the Scott City port, he said.

City officials also have discussed the possibility of using the Missouri Dry Dock facility to lower a rescue boat into the river while the Red Star site is under construction, Hasheider said.

The old ramp at the Red Star site is only wide enough to launch one boat at a time. The new 36-foot-wide ramp will be large enough to launch two boats at once, Hayes said.

Besides the new ramp, the Conservation Department plans to pave the gravel parking lot with concrete and install a small restroom. "It's kind of a glorified port-a-potty," Hayes said. The restroom's exterior will be dressed up with river stone.

The department also plans to improve lighting, expanding from two pole lights to four pole lights that will be erected around the exterior of the parking area.

The improvements are expected to cost $350,000 to $450,000, Hayes said.

The state agency has advertised for bids. The Missouri Conservation Commission will consider awarding a contract at its meeting Nov. 16.

Construction could start in December, a time when the river level typically is low, Hayes said.

Depending on the weather and river fluctuations, it could be next summer before the work is finished, he said.

The Red Star access site is home to Honker's Boat Dock. But Hayes said the agency has no plans to improve the longtime dock. A local boat club maintains the dock.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123