Courthouse annex future uncertain, officials say

The future of the Common Pleas Courthouse Annex is far from certain even as Cape Girardeau city officials talk confidently of renovating the adjacent courthouse for use as city hall.

City manager Scott Meyer said Wednesday officials will have to evaluate what to do with the Annex, formerly a Carnegie Library.

One possibility is to construct an addition connecting the courthouse and annex, according to Meyer and Mayor Bob Fox, in a visit with the Southeast Missourian's editorial board Wednesday.

But at this point, they said, there are no definitive plans. The council has not taken action.

Meyer said city officials have asked St. Louis-based Chiodini Architects "to give us multiple concepts" on how to redevelop the site for use as city hall.

Council members will discuss those concepts this summer. "We want citizens' input, too," Meyer said.

"The biggest priority is to save Common Pleas," Meyer said.

Fox echoed that view. "It has got to be maintained," he said. "It is the most iconic building in Cape Girardeau."

The pre-Civil War structure now houses circuit court offices and courtrooms. But those offices and courtrooms will become empty once the circuit court relocates to a new justice center in Jackson.

That move could occur next year.

City officials, with the help of Chiodini Architects, previously entertained the idea of moving city offices into the courthouse and annex, but initially ruled it out.

The architectural firm recommended the city tear down the existing city hall on Independence Street and replace it with a new city hall.

The study last fall concluded the courthouse and annex weren't large enough to use as city hall and would require construction of an expensive parking structure.

But Fox told the editorial board the city government could downsize its offices by moving some city services to other municipal buildings. City residents, for example, could pay their utility bills at the Osage Centre, Shawnee Park Center and the Arena Building, he said.

He added that parking at the courthouse site would have to be addressed.

Chiodini estimated last year it would cost $23.8 million to renovate and expand the existing city hall compared to just more than $19 million to build an entirely new building.

Fox said city officials have concluded it makes no sense for the city to spend millions of dollars on a new city hall when it also will have to spend millions of dollars just to maintain the courthouse. "Why spend money on both buildings?" he asked.

A proposal to extend the city's capital improvement sales tax for 15 years is on the August ballot.

It would a fund a number of projects. Among other things, it would provide $6 million that could be used to renovate the courthouse, and possibly the annex, for use as city hall, city officials have said.

Meyer said city officials could consider a public-private partnership with a developer on the project if warranted.

Fox said city officials want to spell out the city hall project in advance of the August vote.

At one point, the Cape River Heritage Museum's board of directors had expressed interest in relocating from the city's former fire station on Independence Street to the Common Pleas Courthouse and Annex, Fox said.

"I know they would like more space," he said.

But financing would have been an issue, Fox said. "They needed a whole lot of private funding."

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641