A proposed welcome center at the River Campus hopes to get an official welcome from the Cape Girardeau City Council tonight in the form of an endorsement of a grant application to fund the project.

Southeast Missouri State University is seeking $960,000 in federal transportation money to help construct the state-affiliated welcome center. The university would have to come up with the $240,000 in matching funds for the project, officials said.

But ultimately city tax dollars will reimburse the university over 10 to 15 years because the Convention and Visitors Bureau will lease the welcome center, said city manager Doug Leslie. The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce would operate the welcome center under a contract with the city.

The city uses its motel and restaurant tax money to fund the CVB, Leslie said.

Any future lease agreement would have to be approved by the council to take effect, he said.

City planner Kent Bratton said the city council is just being asked to endorse the grant application to the Missouri Department of Transportation.

University and city officials said the 5,000-square-foot welcome center would be built on the west side of the new River Campus near the planned Fountain Street extension. The university plans to turn the former Catholic seminary overlooking the Mississippi River into an arts campus.

Bratton said the welcome center will have a lobby with a staffed information desk and display areas. Restrooms will serve both the welcome center and the adjoining performance hall.

If the grant is obtained, the welcome center could be opened within the next two years, Leslie said.

City officials said the proposed welcome center would help draw visitors to the planned River Campus art and history museum and downtown Cape Girardeau.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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