Updates

Transportation

Highway expansion to begin

VAN BUREN, Mo. -- The final 59 miles of U.S. 60 will be expanded to four lanes. Work on two final contracts totaling nearly $28 million is expected to begin in the spring. The project includes a stretch of U.S 60 through Howell, Shannon and Carter counties, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation. Both contracts were awarded to HR Quadri Contractors of Van Buren. The work will be done in two stretches; one in Shannon County and the other encompassing both Howell and Shannon counties. Work is expected to be completed by 2010, making U.S. 60 four lanes from Sikeston to Springfield.

72 Bypass kickoff scheduled

FREDERICKTOWN, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) kicked off the construction of the Highway 72 bypass with a ceremony in Fredericktown.

The first phase of construction of the bypass around Fredericktown includes building a roundabout at Highway 72, just east of the exchange with U.S. 67. The $1,175,538 contract for the first phase of the project was awarded last year to Chester Bross Construction of Hannibal. The project is scheduled for completion in the autumn.

The second phase of the project consists of grading the remainder of the bypass and constructing two new bridges. One will cross over Little St. Francois River and the other will cross over Village Creek.

The third phase includes paving of the entire bypass project. The second phase of the bypass project is scheduled to being in the autumn and the third phases should begin in autumn 2009.

MoDOT is partnering with Madison County to finance the three-phase project. The county will contribute approximately $3.4 million toward the estimated $7 million improvement.

Restaurants

Pancakes, anyone?

A new Huddle House franchise is under construction in front of the Town House Inn, 505 N. Kingshighway. The 24-hour restaurant will be owned by Matt and Robin Goehman, owners of the Town House Inns in Jackson and Cape Girardeau, and should be open by mid-May, Robin Goehman said.

The new Huddle House would be the second restaurant in the 400-location chain to locate in our area. There's one already in operation at 3508 Nash Road.

The eatery will be the Goehmans' first venture into the restaurant business, Robin Goehman said. They purchased the Cape Girardeau hotel in November 2006 and followed up by purchasing the Jackson Town House Inn in February 2007.

Smoke-free

Customers of the Bob Evans Restaurant at 156 Vantage Drive in Cape Girardeau will no longer be able to light up after their meal. The restaurant's parent company, Bob Evans Farms, announced Wednesday that it is banning smoking in 16 restaurants in Missouri and Kansas that still permitted cigarettes. All Bob Evans Restaurants in the two states will now be smoke-free, the company said in a news release.

"The decision to change operations to nonsmoking is the result of customer comments, national and local industry trends and the U.S. Surgeon General's report issued June 27, 2006," the company said.

Lewis & Clark Cafe finds new quarters

After an aborted attempt in December to move his restaurant, Lewis & Clark Cafe owner Sam Alsmadi started over to find more room for customers and a place he could install a kitchen to expand his offerings of Middle Eastern food.

The restaurant at 31 N. Main St. in Cape Girardeau closed Saturday reopened March 1 at 411 Broadway. Along with the changed location came a new name, Mediterranean on Broadway, but the menu will remain the same, he said.

"I can seat up to 100 people," Alsmadi said. "I have a nice roomy large area in the back for a kitchen. It is ideal."

And Alsmadi said he intends to stay put at the new location. He's signed a lease with John Wyman, the building owner, for five years with an option for another five years.

One of the more unusual offerings of Lewis & Clark, the hookah pipes with flavored tobacco, will continue, but Alsmadi said the new restaurant will have a separate room with about six tables for those who wish to partake.

The full kitchen will be installed during the summer, he said, allowing him to offer a greater variety of food. "I can offer all the Middle Eastern varieties in addition to what I have now on my menu."

And he plans to offer cooking classes at the new location through the Southeast Missouri State University continuing education program.

The first classes will be April 21, he said, and he will close the restaurant except to those who are attending the class.

Construction

Construction could create fast growth in area for 2008

If everything promised for the region in terms of construction takes place, 2008 could be the beginning of one of the fastest periods of growth ever seen in our area.

First came the announcement by Saint Francis Medical Center that it plans an $84 million heart and cancer hospital adjacent to its present facility. Also, developer Mike Mathes has joined forces with builder and developer Stacy Mansfield and area businessman Eugene Holloway to pour money into 135 to 140 homes in 12 subdivisions.

And now a St. Louis-based entrepreneur, Seymour Chilton, says that he wants to build one of the first apartment complexes to go up in the area in recent years. Not only that, but Chilton also said he's bringing two clothing retailers to the area as well as a restaurant franchise and a 7-Eleven convenience store.

Chilton and his investors -- who he identified as medical professionals but would not name -- formed Sonsey Enterprises LLC on Jan. 8. The strip mall on the southwest corner of Themis Street and North Silver Springs Road will become Sonsey Village Plaza.

On the east side of North Silver Springs Road, Chilton said the partners have purchased vacant land that will become a 66-unit gated apartment community. The apartments will be a mix of long-term leases and furnished corporate apartments for short-term tenants, Chilton said.

The furnished units will be "for medical staffing companies, like headhunters for nursing agencies" that bring recruits to Cape Girardeau for the two hospitals, he said.

Chilton hopes to break ground on the apartment construction in July, he said.

The company also plans to bring two national franchise clothing stores to Cape Girardeau as well as a food franchise, Chilton said. He would not disclose the names of either the retailers or the restaurant.