River Campus project supporters say the proposal will bring big returns for a small investment by Cape Girardeau residents.

Voters will decide whether they want to make that investment when they go to the polls Nov. 3 to vote on an $8.9 million bond issue and an accompanying measure to increase the city's hotel-motel tax and extend the restaurant tax to pay for the bond issue.

The joint city-university project would redevelop the old St. Vincent's Seminary property into a campus for the university's art, music, theater and dance programs, a performing arts center, theater and 22,000-square foot University Museum.

The city's share represents a fourth of the $35.6 million project.

In addition to the city bond issue and tax measure, the university is raising $8.9 million in private donations and gifts, and university officials will ask the Missouri Legislature to appropriate $17.8 million for the project.

The River Campus investment could spur millions in economic development and new business for the whole community by bringing in tourists, patrons of the arts and more students, all of whom will spend money in the city, supporters say.

"It directly impacts the southeast part of town that needs revitalization," said Cape Girardeau Mayor Al Spradling III. "It is going to benefit our tourism and visitors coming to Cape Girardeau. It will, we hope, increase the amount of usage of our restaurants and hotels because will be able to draw more people here."

The university is putting together a study on the River Campus' economic impact, said Dr. Dale Nitzschke, university president. Preliminary projections show that every 100,000 visitors to the River Campus would generate $2.8 million in revenue in the community.

Representatives from the city and university have made presentations on the project to many civic organizations and in several public meetings.

Alumni and friends of the university will hold a public forum on the project from 1:30 to 3 p.m. today on the seminary grounds.

Music, refreshments and children's activities will be available.

For the university, the River Campus would provide new facilities for its arts programs and allow for expanding those programs while freeing up space on the main campus.

And, supporters say, the project would give the university and community increased access to entertainment and cultural events.

The university and city have signed a cooperative agreement on management of the River Campus. The university will own and pay for maintenance of the facility, but a Board of Managers made up of university and city representatives will set policies.

In addition, the agreement stipulates the facilities will be available to the city for at least four City Council meetings a year at no charge, and at least one event will be held for the public at no cost or a substantially reduced cost.

Voters will see two River Campus propositions on the ballot Nov. 3.

The first authorizes the bond issue itself. The second calls for raising the hotel-motel tax from 3 to 4 percent and extending it from 2004 to 2030, and extending, but not increasing, the 1 percent restaurant tax from 2004 to 2030.

Revenue from the tax measures would pay off the bond issue, Spradling said.

Both propositions have to pass -- the bond issue by a four-sevenths, or 57.1 percent, majority -- for the project to be funded, he said. The tax measures would not be enacted if the bond issue failed.

River Campus supporters say little of the burden of financing the project will fall on city residents.

Spradling pointed out few Cape Girardeau residents will stay in hotels or motels, and the restaurant tax would remain at its current level.

Don Dickerson, president of the university's Board of Regents, called the project "a rare chance to do something economically that's really rather painless."

"Nobody's asking anybody in this town to pay a dime more in taxes than they're paying presently," he said.

The 10-cent debt service levy on Cape Girardeau residents' property taxes will sunset in 2004, and would not be reinstated with the River Campus vote, Spradling said. That levy is paying off the bonds that financed the construction of the Show-Me Center.

"The bottom line is, your property taxes are going to go down in 2004," Spradling said.

The proposition authorizing the River Campus bond issue does cite "all taxable tangible property" as a funding source, but the issue will not raise property taxes if approved, he said.

"For proper bond issuance, that language must be in there," he said.

Some in the community have complained that residents were short-changed in the last joint project between the university and the city: The Show Me Center.

Complaints include not being able to reserve space for events at the Show Me Center and complaints about the facility not attracting the right types of events.

University officials point out the Show Me Center is geared more toward large-scale events, such as basketball games, wrestling matches and rodeos, where a performing arts center would better accommodate classical music concerts, plays and musicals and dance recitals.

"The Show Me Center has been an excellent success," Nitzschke said. "Problems have been minimal and the array of activities has been major and very diverse."

He said he does hear complaints from community members and university staff alike about not being able to reserve space at the facility.

"That's a problem we have all over campus," he said.

ABOUT THE RIVER CAMPUS

Q: What is the River Campus project?

A: The university is proposing combining its existing dance, music, theater and art programs into an integrated School of Visual and Performing Arts to be located on the St. Vincent's Seminary grounds. The proposal, also called the Historic Seminary Redevelopment Project, calls for using the existing buildings and constructing approximately 115,000 square feet of new building space to include a 1,000-plus seat auditorium, a 22,000-square foot University Museum with a regional history emphasis, a 500-seat theater, a 150-seat recital hall, classrooms, offices and meeting rooms.

Q: How will the proposal be funded?

A: Projected cost of the project is $35.6 million. The university is raising $8.9 million in private gifts and donations, and will ask the state to appropriate $17.8 million. The city's share of the joint project will be $8.9 million. The city is asking voters on Nov. 3. to fund its share of the project through an $8.9 million bond issue and accompanying tax measures. The proposal before voters calls for increasing the hotel-motel tax from 3 to 4 percent and extendig it from from 2004 to 2030 and extending, but not increasing, the 1 percent restaurant tax for the same period. The tax measures, if approved, would pay off the bond issue. A 10-cent debt servicde levy now included in the city's property tax levy will expire in 2004 and would not be reinstated with the tax measures.

Q: What will Cape Girardeau voters see on the Nov. 3 ballot?

A: Voters will find two propositions on the ballot for the River Campus project. The first asks voters to approve issuing $8.9 million iun general revenue bonds to pay for the city's share of the redevelopment project. The second proposition asks voters to approve the extensions in the hotel-motel and restaurant taxes.

Q: Why are two propositions required?

A: According to Mayor Al Spradling III, state law requires voter approval to issue the bonds -- the first proposition -- and separate action on a proposition securing funding to pay off the bond issue -- the seconde proposition.

Q: What if one proposition passes and the other fails?

A: The whole project fails, says Spradling. If the bond issue, which requires a four-sevenths, or 57.1 percent majority, fails and the tax measure passes, the taxes will not be levied, increased or extended. By the same token, if the bond issue passes but the tax measure fails, the bonds will not be issued because no funding source has been approved for them.