From pavement to park benches, the land that once was a stretch of Aquamsi Street is now home to the Melvin Gateley Vision 2000 Rose Garden.

The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department recently announced the relocation of the garden to Murtaugh Park has been completed, although a few finishing touches are needed before the official ribbon-cutting celebration is held in the spring.

The rose garden originally was behind city hall, but needed to be moved before crews came through to lay underground pipes for the Broadway Stormwater project along Merriwether Street and part of the city hall parking lot. Mayor Harry Rediger said during the groundbreaking ceremony in March that the garden hardly received the attention it deserved when it was tucked away behind city hall.

Parks and recreation director Julia Thompson echoed that sentiment in a Tuesday phone interview and said the new location at the corner of William and Main streets, adjacent to the Red House Interpretive Center, offers much improved visibility.

Over the past two years, Murtaugh Park has seen many changes. The park was once a 0.2-acre strip of land between Main and Aquamsi streets, but more than doubled in size last year when the city removed part of Aquamsi, adding more green space to the park. The street became obsolete after Main Street was no longer one way. Thompson described the park as a green space that was almost "more of a median" before the city filled in the section of Aquamsi Street.

With the addition of the Melvin Gateley Rose Garden, she said the area is now a place to reflect on Cape Girardeau's history. It's on the southern edge of downtown, near the river, a vital part of the city's past.

"Our roots are right there on the Mississippi riverfront," she said. " ... It's a location that, when you are looking at the new bubbling fountain, you're actually looking straight at the [Bill Emerson Memorial] bridge, when facing south along the garden's walkway."

It's also steps away from the Red House, which commemorates the visit of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in 1803. Information about Murtaugh Park and the Melvin Gateley Rose Garden's namesakes provide a look at the city's more recent history.

The park was named after the Rev. James A. Murtaugh, who became head of St. Vincent's College in 1911 and was one of the city's civic leaders. Melvin Gateley is a former teacher, principal and Ward 2 council member who served as one of the leaders of Vision 2000 and Vision 2020. Through Vision 2000, Gateley helped plant more than 5,000 rose bushes across the city during the late 1980s and '90s. Informational kiosks around the garden offer additional details about the improvements made to the city through Vision 2000.

Gateley himself was involved in the relocation process, selling engraved bricks to pay for the park's amenities, and keeping up with the project as it was completed. Thompson said all of the work was done by the city's parks and recreation staff.

"We did it all in-house and I'm very proud of my staff," she said. "It was not an easy project."

More than 4,000 bricks are in the rose garden, with room for plenty more engravings, Thompson said.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

William Street and Main Street, Cape Girardeau, Mo.