Cape City Hall project on track for Oct. 1 completion date

The new City Hall project is running right on time, according to the City of Cape Girardeau's project manager Anna Kangas.

Construction began in June to renovate the former Carnegie Library and 165-year old Common Pleas Courthouse on North Lorimier Street into a new City Hall. A brand new structure will connect the two buildings.

Kangas said construction is set to finish by Oct. 1.

"We've been blessed with dry weather, so the crews have been able to make a lot of progress," Kangas said.

New developments

In the connecting structure, steel beams have been put up and concrete floors have been poured, seen Wednesday in downtown Cape Girardeau. The pictured space will house the new City Council chambers.MONICA OBRADOVIC

Recently, Penzel Construction crews have begun installing new windows in the Carnegie Library building. Kangas anticipates the Common Pleas Courthouse will have windows sometime in June.

Dave Mirgeaux, project superintendent with Penzel Construction, said the crew will soon begin re-doing the steps leading to the Common Pleas Courthouse building from North Spanish Street. The steps will be almost identical to the current steps.

The structure connecting the two historic buildings will house offices, a reception area, and a City Council chambers. The construction crew recently poured concrete floors and started framing the building's exterior walls.

The council chamber will be larger than the one at the current City Hall. It will also feature better technology, according to Mayor Bob Fox. Two cameras and new microphones will be added.

"We had to do something to make the meetings a little more visible and easier to hear when people are not there," Fox said.

Construction also entails the addition of a new multilevel parking garage to the south of the buildings. The bottom floor will house employee parking with a tunnel leading to City Hall's basement. The top floor is allotted for public parking and will lead to the main entrance.

In the Common Pleas Courthouse, the Penzel crew has put up drywall and re-plastered walls. Some offices have already been painted. Mirgeaux said restorations will soon begin on the courthouse's cupola.

Lots of detail work had to be done in the former courtroom, according to Mirgeaux. The ceiling nearly had to be completely re-done.

"This room was a disaster," Mirgeaux added. The city still held court in the room up until last June, he said.

The project began with a budget of $12 million. The budget rose to $12.5 million earlier this year after the project involved an unexpected bedrock excavation. It also pushed the project's completion date from Sept. 1 to Oct. 1.

In addition to the bedrock excavation, the city had to buy a new generator, according to Fox, which also drove up the price. Extra funding for the new unit will not be taken from taxpayers, but from extra casino funds, Fox told the Southeast Missourian in February.

Out with the old

Fox said the city plans on selling the current City Hall, 401 Independence St., though the process has not begun. Most likely, the building will not be sold until after the move into the new facilities is over, he said.

According to city manager Scott Meyer, the city may place a deed restriction on the building preventing future buyers from tearing it down.

"We'll advertise it and take bids, and then council will take action to accept bids," Meyer said. "There's a whole process that'll happen, but none of that will happen until after we move."

Kangas said the city may begin moving furniture into the new facility before Oct. 1, but future plans are tentative.

"We're just anxious to get it open and let people in and see what it looks like," Fox said.