Cape Council OKs bonds for River Campus Art Expansion project

Cape Girardeau City Council, meeting virtually because of COVID-19 concerns, approved Tuesday the issuance of $10 million in industrial revenue bonds to re-purpose two buildings along South Frederick and Morgan Oak streets and construct a third building as a centralized art complex for Southeast Missouri State University students who study ceramics, woodworking, metal sculpture, painting and 3-D printing.

The city will issue the bonds at the request of Chief Property Development LLC, owned by Scott and Lisa Blank.

"This is a passion of ours to help bring these arts under one roof at River Campus," said Scott Blank, who said the project will be done in two phases.

• Phase I: renovate the 10,000-square-foot former Cape Restaurant Supply building at 340 S. Frederick for ceramics education and modify a nearby 5,000-square-foot building for students of painting.

Both structures are already owned by Chief Property Development.

Blank said assuming rapid approval of city permits, he hopes to have the first phase completed by June, possibly permitting Southeast to begin using the space as early as fall semester 2021.

"We see this initial phase of development as a pretty quick turnaround," Blank told the Southeast Missourian.

• Phase II: build an 18,000-square-foot building perpendicular to the ceramics/painting structures to house woodworking, metal sculpture, 3-D printing and classroom space.

The building out of Phase II does not have a firm start date but Blank said he hopes for a 2023 completion.

Blank said Chief Property Development and Southeast have a lease-purchase agreement in place for these structures.

Approved by Southeast's Board of Regents as part of the university's master plan in December 2018, the expansion will consolidate physical space of the Department of Arts and Design, a strategic initiative of the Holland College of Arts and Media and will help Southeast better meet accreditation standards from the National Association of Schools of Arts and Design.

Blank said when the project is complete, the buildings will form a "big U" with a courtyard in the center.

Blank, who owns Bi-State Oil and Southern convenience store in Cape Girardeau, told council he hopes the consolidated art complex at River Campus will help Southeast retain current students and recruit new ones.

Deer hunting

City manager Scott Meyer told Mayor Bob Fox and the city's six ward council members a new deer hunting ordinance will be presented for their consideration at the next meeting Feb. 1, which is scheduled to be held in-person in council chambers.

In July 2012, the council gave its formal blessing to an archery hunt to thin the city's deer herd, but city residents overturned that approval in a 2013 referendum.

Technical college

The council gave final approval to a $20,000 expenditure to support a needs analysis and community survey for a proposed 13th community college in Missouri, requested by the Committee for Affordable Technical Education.

The cities of Perryville and Jackson, plus Perry County, previously committed $10,000 each to the survey. The Industrial Development Authority (IDA) of Cape Girardeau County has agreed to expend $30,000.