County passes on annex maintenance, will move offices in August

Some Cape Girardeau County offices will have a new home this summer after action at Thursday's regular meeting of the County Commission.

The Cape Girardeau satellite offices for the county collector, clerk and assessor will move to 2311 Bloomfield, suite 102, said Commissioner Charlie Herbst by phone Thursday.

The county will take possession of the 1,300-square-feet space Aug. 1, and the county offices will remain in the annex until after the August election -- and the build-out is complete, Herbst said.

The three offices are operating out of the Common Pleas Courthouse Annex at 44 N. Lorimier St. in Cape Girardeau, and, Herbst said, the space is no longer suited to the county offices' needs.

Until about 18 months ago, Herbst said, the annex housed the satellite offices for the collector, assessor and clerk, and the juvenile office. But the juvenile office moved to the Juvenile Detention Center at 2137 Rust Ave. in Cape Girardeau, and as a result, the office space isn't being optimized, Herbst said.

The county leases the 850 square feet space at the annex for no monthly fee in exchange for handling maintenance and upkeep of the building and grounds, Herbst said.

The new space on Bloomfield Road will be leased at $1,367 per month, without maintenance costs, Herbst said.

The annex space needs to be rehabilitated and remodeled, Herbst said, and "the county can't invest money in a building they don't own."

Besides, Herbst said, "it makes more sense for the history of the property, going forward, for the city to control it."

According to earlier reporting by the Southeast Missourian, the local Historic Preservation Commission placed the annex on its annual list of endangered buildings, totaling 15 structures.

The annex was originally built as a Carnegie Library in 1921, according to the commission's report.

It served as the public library until 1980, when the library moved to its present location on Clark Street, and county offices moved in.

Cape Girardeau city planner Ryan Shrimplin told the Southeast Missourian in April there are no plans by the city to demolish the structure, but that could change.

The city plans to hire a company to do a feasibility study concerning moving city hall, and that study would include exploring possible uses for the annex.

The new space will be far more efficient for the government offices, Herbst said, with better parking and accessibility than is available at the annex.

"The same services available downtown will be available at the new location," Herbst said, and the offices will be easy to get to via Kingshighway.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630