Tenmile looks to add balcony to old Esquire Theater building

Cape Girardeau City Council approved a license and indemnity agreement with Tenmile Holdings LLC on Monday, April 15, for the installation of a marquee sign and awning with column posts for the old Esquire Theater building.

The building was once a Cape Girardeau movie theater but is now being renovated to hold office and retail space. The renovation project is led by the owner of Tenmile Holdings LLC, Ben Traxel.

The agreement gives the responsibilities, conditions and liabilities to Tenmile for those additions to the building. Traxel said its preference is to not add the support columns on the sidewalk for the building but to have the approval.

“Structurally, we would prefer not to do them, obviously to have an open end there. But if we have to put two columns in though, they’ll still look OK. But if I don’t have to do them, that’d be great,” Traxel said.

Traxel said the company is still finishing its final evaluation on that. He said the plan involves the addition of a balcony on the building.

“Our plan is to be able to walk out on top of the marquee and have it be a balcony up there,” he said.

Traxel said there are two tenants signed up for the building: one on the front lower level and the front upper level. Tenmile is currently working on getting tenants signed up for the back four sections of the building.

Traxel stated in an email to the Southeast Missourian that the hope is to have the two tenants "signed up in there by June" while work on the front of the building is still ongoing, and the building’s completion will come in phases. He stated work on "the marquee and decorative front of the building will likely take most of the summer to get just right."