CLOSED GATES TURN RIVERBOATS AWAY FROM CAPE

The flood-swollen Mississippi River has forced the city of Cape Girardeau to close the gate on riverboat tourism.

The Main Street Levee District closed the Themis Street floodgate Thursday and planned to close the Broadway gate today as the muddy river continued to climb toward a forecasted crest of 40 feet Tuesday, 8 feet above flood stage.

Closing the floodwall gates keeps the city's downtown dry, but also dries the flow of cash from steamboat tourists who normally dock there. The American Queen had been scheduled to arrive Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. and stay nearly five hours.

The steamboat instead will dock at Paducah, Ky., on the Ohio River. Flooding on the Mississippi also will keep the American Queen from docking at Chester, Ill., on its cruise from Memphis, Tenn., to St. Louis.

"We have to keep the safety of passengers and crew in mind," said Susan Oakland, spokeswoman for the Delta Queen Steamboat Co. in New Orleans, which operates the American Queen.

Flooding and canceled stops are just part of the business, she said. "We've operated steamboats since 1890. Sometimes Old Man River has a mind of its own."

Terri Clark-Bauer, director of the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the canceled stop will mean the loss of tourism dollars. Clark-Bauer said she couldn't put an exact figure on that loss.

But she estimated that each passenger on a steamboat that docks in Cape Girardeau spends $75 here. The American Queen, the largest of the three steamboats operated by the Delta Queen Steamboat Co., can carry 436 passengers.

If the boat has a full load of passengers, the economic loss would be $32,700.

Clark-Bauer said she hopes Cape Girardeau will get an added steamboat stop later this year. "It may not be an economic loss in the long haul," she said. "We always have our door open for unexpected visits."

Three steamboats and the River Explorer barge were scheduled to dock a combined 17 times in Cape Girardeau from May 29 through Nov. 16.

Clark-Bauer said the boat dockings could bring a total of 4,000 passengers to the river city, generating an estimated $300,000 in tourist spending.

It's not just the passengers who spend money, she said. Boat employees spend, too.

And it's not just gift shops that get the traffic. There are visits to doctors' offices, pharmacies and beauty shops.

The CVB shuttles passengers and crew members around town in an emergency, Clark-Bauer said. "We have had people who had broken teeth that needed repair."

Chefs on the boats occasionally stock up on food at local grocery stores. Clark-Bauer recalls chefs from one boat spending $2,500 to $3,000 on lettuce, fresh fruit and other food during a single visit to a Cape Girardeau supermarket.

The high waters provided temporary fun for some. Brittney Passini, 11, of Cape Girardeau danced barefoot Friday in the flood waters rolling over a concrete ramp near the Broadway gate.

"It's really cold," said Passini, who also passed the time throwing sticks and stones into the fast-moving current. "It's fun to see how fast and far they go."

Her mother, Cathy, kept a close eye on her daughter. "We come down here on a a regular basis," she said.

Others who gathered near the river's edge included a couple pushing their young baby in a stroller and three boys on roller blades who took time out from skating to watch the racing river.

Pat Blades was too busy waiting on customers at her gourmet food and gift shop, Patricia Ann's on North Main, to watch the rising river.

The canceled boat stop was bad news for her shop, open for just a couple of months. Blades said she looked forward to selling her wares to American Queen passengers, but that won't happen.

"I don't think they'll swim ashore," she said.

Still, Blades didn't condemn the concrete floodwall. It keeps downtown stores and streets from flooding, a benefit that she and other merchants enjoy.

Blades said she has to take it all in stride. "This is what we put up with down here."

RISING WATER

The Mississippi River stages at Cape Girardeau this week:

Day Feet

Today 37.4

Monday 38.6

Tuesday 39.0

Wednesday 38.3

Thursday 36.4

*Flood stage is 32 feet

Crest Tuesday morning

Source: National Weather Service