Casino site holds memories for many

For weeks now, homes and businesses have been knocked down one by one to make room for Cape Girardeau's new Isle of Capri $125 million casino complex.

"I've got memories there a bulldozer can't touch," said Greg Lincoln, who attended the Evening Light Church at 234 Mill St. It's one of the few buildings still standing on the 23-acre Isle of Capri site, which includes more than 60 individual parcels.

With his well-worn Pentecostal Praises hymnal in hand, Lincoln recently returned to the now vacant church building to sing a few songs and say goodbye.

"Churches are like people," he said. "We're temples of God, just here for a short time. When the body goes back to the ground, we give it a funeral or some type of memorial service. So this was my way of giving this building a funeral."

With the final notes of "Sunshine in the Shadows" hanging in the air, Lincoln felt he had the closure he needed.

Brad and Brooke Redfering stand where their front porch once was Sunday at the corner of Mill and Main streets in Cape Girardeau. The Redfering's home was torn down to make way for the Isle of Capri Casino. (Laura Simon)

"Upon learning about the fate of the building, I just had to get in there and sing one last song before it faced Isle of Capri's bulldozer," Lincoln said.

He grew up with his two brothers and a sister along North Fountain Street in an area called then known as Marble City Heights. The neighborhood was leveled by a tornado in 1949.

As a child, growing up there, Lincoln walked everywhere.

He walked up Mill hill to Washington School every weekday.

On a hot summer afternoon, he'd walk down to Reed's Service Station.

"It seemed like they had the coldest Cokes in town," Lincoln said.

He walked over to the Evening Light Church on Sunday mornings. He remembers how the sun would shine through the building's southside windows.

"It was just beautiful," he said.

While he's sad to see places he loved disappear, he said he recognizes nothing in this life in permanent.

"God does not necessarily live in a pile of bricks and wood, but we build a temple dedicated to him for his worship," Lincoln said. "In time, it goes for other purposes back into the ground from which it came."

The Evening Light Church moved to a larger location on South Sprigg Street in 1975 and in the years since several different congregations worshipped there. More recently, the church was converted for residential use.

Lots full of freshly turned dirt at the casino site don't give any indication of the buildings that once sat on them. But those who called them home will always remember.

Brooke Redfering cried as she stood in front of her former home at 631 N. Main St. watching a backhoe crash through her kitchen. With a baby girl due in June, Redfering said selling the house to Isle of Capri was a blessing in disguise for she and her husband Brad.

"We loved our house, but it needed a lot of repairs," Redfering said. "The casino coming coaxed us into moving."

She found out she was pregnant with their first child just a couple of weeks before signing the home over to Isle.

"We call her our casino baby," she said of her unborn child. "We are going to name her Hayden Capri."

The neighborhood bar where Brooke remembers spending some of her younger days has already been torn down, too.

Known over the years by many names including The Mule Lip, The Camp and more recently Margarita Mama's, Bob Camp operated the business from 2001 to 2006 and lived across the street. Camp moved to Cape Girardeau from Memphis, Tenn., after working in a recording studio there. His mission at The Camp was to bring more live music to town.

"We had live music six nights a week," Camp said. "It almost had a roadhouse feel. When the bands came in, they'd stay there at my house."

Camp hopes the casino means more music for Cape Girardeau.

"I wasn't pro-gambling or anti-gambling," he said. "It's all about the music with me. I'm hopeful they'll bring in some national acts."

Isle of Capri's annual Jester's Jam Concert Series brings country and rock musicians to its casino properties.

Its Cape Girardeau complex is expected to have 1,000 slot machines, 28 table games, three restaurants, a lounge and terrace overlooking the Mississippi River and a 750-seat event center.

Fronabarger Concreters Inc. will begin work this week to relocate North Main Street around the casino site. The roadwork is scheduled to be completed in November.

Work on the casino building will begin this summer. The casino will open in late 2012.

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent addresses:

234 Mill Street, Cape Girardeau, MO

631 N. Main Street, Cape Girardeau, Mo