CHANGES FOR WILDWOOD CONSIDERED

Southeast Missouri State University may soon turn the president's home into an alumni center.

The home would house the university's fund-raising and alumni services offices. It also could provide sleeping quarters for VIPs on overnight stays.

But first the Southeast Missouri University Foundation would buy an off-campus house to serve as the new home for President Dr. Dale Nitzschke.

Nitzschke said the Board of Regents may consider the issue at one of its next few meetings. The regents next two meetings are scheduled for May 14 and June 30.

The proposal probably would be made by the university foundation, Nitzschke said.

Nitzschke said the current alumni center at 1401 N. Sprigg is too cramped and isn't the best of locations.

"Every place I have been the alumni association has had its own home," Nitzschke said Monday. "The place we have now simply does not have that kind of environment."

Nitzschke said the president's home would be ideal for an alumni center. "It has that setting right on campus. It is a home with a great history."

The current home of the president sits on campus just south of the Show Me Center. Known as Wildwood, the house has been the home of Southeast's presidents since 1924.

Nitzschke said Wildwood doesn't have a large dining area, making it difficult to hold large dinner parties.

Dinner guests sometimes end up eating in other rooms of the house. "We have people sometimes eating in a bedroom," said Nitzschke.

Nitzschke said a large dining area is important when it comes to entertaining people as part of the president's fund-raising duties.

Many university presidents, he said, feel they can be more effective at raising money when they entertain at off-campus homes.

Guests feel it is more impressive to be invited to dine at a university president's off-campus home. "Having it right on campus seems to many just like another university building," he said.

Nitzschke said he and his wife, Linda, are willing to move to an off-campus home.

They still have a residence in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area where his wife lives some of the time.

Nitzschke said a university president's official residence isn't a private home, but more of a public place. "You live in a fish bowl seven days a week," he said.

Wildwood was once part of the large holdings of Cape Girardeau founder Louis Lorimier, who received the property as a Spanish land grant. Maria Cross bought the land from Lorimier heirs in 1820. John Cross owned the property from 1836 to 1865. Michael Dittlinger purchased the farm in 1865.

Dr. Frank Nickell, a history professor and director of the Center for Regional History at Southeast, said the age of the home isn't known. But Nickell said the oldest part of the house may date to the late 1800s.

In 1922, Southeast bought a 124-area tract for nearly $23,000 for use as a demonstration farm. On it stood an abandoned structure that had been used for making wine. The original structure featured a two-story wine cellar made of solid stone.

Through the efforts of Board of Regents member Louis Houck, the building was saved, renovated and expanded to serve as the home for the school's president.

Major repairs were made to the home on two occasions. A tornado collapsed the north wall of the home on May 21, 1949. Then-president W.W. Parker and his wife were away at the time. They continued to live in the home while repairs were made. In 1971, then president Mark Scully had a new ridge-style roof constructed on the kitchen wing.

Over the years, university officials have talked of new uses for Wildwood and the surrounding property, including the possibility of additional student housing.