RIVER CAMPUS BUDGETED; CAPITAL SPENDING BILL TO GOVERNOR

A bill that includes $4.6 million for the River Campus project is on its way to the governor.

The Missouri Legislature on Friday gave final approval to a capital improvements spending bill that includes money for Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus.

Lawmakers also included $650,000 for a new Cape Girardeau vocational-technical school and $50,000 for added parking at the Cape Girardeau veterans home.

The $650,000 represents the third and final state payment for the Cape Girardeau School District's new vocational school.

"We pushed very hard for this project," said Harold Tilley, director of the vocational school.

In all, the state will pay $3.15 million, half the cost of construction of the new school. A local bond issue is financing the other half.

The school board is expected to award a contract in June for construction of the school. To be called the Career and Technology Center, it is scheduled to open by fall 2000.

As to the River Campus, Southeast wants to spend $35.6 million to turn a former Catholic seminary in Cape Girardeau into a school for the visual and performing arts.

The $4.6 million would be the first slice of state funding. Southeast wants the state to eventually pour $17.8 million into the project. The other half of the funding would come from local-tax-financed bonds and private donations.

"We are obviously very, very pleased," said Southeast's president, Dr. Dale Nitzschke. He praised local lawmakers for their support of the project.

The final bill worked out in a House-Senate conference committee doesn't put any contingency on spending the state money for the River Campus project. The House initially had approved a bill that wouldn't have allowed Southeast to spend any of the state money while Cape Girardeau businessman Jim Drury's lawsuit was pending. Drury has filed a lawsuit against the city in an effort to block the use of city tax money to help fund the River Campus project.

Nitzschke welcomed the Legislature's decision to remove the contingency language.

"I think it is very important, probably more important as far as the grand scheme of how we do business in this state," he said.

Had the language remained in the bill, it could have led opponents of other construction projects to file lawsuits to hold up state funding, he said.

Nitzschke said the Legislature made the right decision.

Don Dickerson, president of the Board of Regents, spent several days in Jefferson City this week. He lobbied for the funding in visits with a number of lawmakers.

Nitzschke thanked Dickerson for his efforts. "He really has done yeoman work for this university and this entire region."

Friday's action culminated an intense lobbying action by university officials.

Gov. Mel Carnahan added the project to his spending plan late in this legislative session, helping pave the way for the Legislature's action.