South Side Farms project moves one step closer to completion

South Side Farms project cleared another hurdle July 17 after the Cape Girardeau City Council approved a recommendation to allow development on its farm site.

Now that the council has approved the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendation, the farm project can develop more than half of the zones on its 16-acre property near Shawnee Park Center.

"We can build structures now," the project's interim executive director Jimmy Wilferth said. "We can build a barn. We can build a cleaning room and a refrigeration room for vegetables. We can build a restaurant ... but probably we'll be waiting until next year to pursue that."

The project needed city permission every step of the way, even to dig a well. Now that they're permitted to build more, Wilferth said the project's board of directors will focus on aquaculture in the fall. They'll construct a high tunnel, add tanks to it and stock them with trout.

These will require a clean water source, hence the need for a well.

"Trout have to have certain cool water," Wilferth explained, "and they can't have chemicals in the water."

The farm is already growing several types of vegetables; Wilferth and other board members recently tried its first yield of four cucumbers. Future plans include growing seasonal fruit, raising bees for honey and having other animals produce meat and dairy products.

Other aspects of the project received city approval months ago, including a child care center for future site workers.

"That's a sticky wicket. That's a tough one," Wilferth said. "If moms and dads could bring their kids to work, day care is extremely expensive and this would alleviate that." The idea for the day care came from conversations Wilferth had with young mothers who couldn't afford to pay for other child care services.

The project's child care, provided by East Missouri Action Agency, will focus on ages zero to 3.

Another building at the site will provide social services for women. Wilferth said there are several locations around Cape Girardeau that serve primarily men, but not as many geared toward women.

The Community Partnership of Southeast Missouri will help with these programs. Additional South Side Farms partners include the Southeast Missouri State University Department of Agriculture; the University of Missouri; and Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Several units of housing are also in the works for the location.

One planned building, an education center, was scrapped as new developments came about.

"Instead of building a $4 million or $5 million facility right there, we bought the May Greene School building for a fraction of that and we'll be able to have our educational piece of the project (there)," Wilferth said. The land previously reserved for such a facility will most likely be used to grow additional crops.

Besides simply cost, Wilferth said part of the reason the project acquired the school is because many older south side residents attended May Greene and remain sentimental about it.

Some of the land is reserved for a green space where people can socialize and exercise. Wilferth said it could potentially become a city park.

"The only caveat that I shared with (the Parks and Recreation Department) was, we might be willing to give you the property ... but you have to go into south Cape Girardeau and ask them what they want in a park," he said.

Ensuring south side residents play an active role in the project is paramount. Many of the farm's aspects, including the selection of crops, come from suggestions from the local community.

"It goes along with the whole mantra behind this project of 'don't go do something to someone that you haven't been invited to,'" Wilferth added.

Wilferth has been helping the South Side Farms initiative for three years now, and he said it will take several more years before the project is complete.

"It's not about notoriety; it's not about fame," he said. "It's about giving the current generation and the next generation and the following generations hope."