City to add parking at Fire Station No. 1

It has stood facing Independence near Sprigg street for decades, but the small, cinder-block building known most recently as B&B Flea Market will be coming down any day.

The city of Cape Girardeau purchased the 60-by-120-foot lot at 717 Independence because it is just west of Fire Station No. 1, and the fire department needs more parking space and maneuvering room for its trucks.

The deal was finalized in September. The city paid $30,000 to owners Bill and Betty O'Kelly for the land, adjoining house and shop that Betty O'Kelly said they closed in 1998.

"It's been in the same family that whole time," she said.

The Cape Girardeau City Council without comment accepted the deed for the property at Monday night's council meeting. City planner Kent Bratton said demolition is expected to take place any day.

After the structures come down, the site will be graded and partially graveled, he said. The frontage of the property will be seeded for green space.

The building has fallen into a state of disrepair. Asbestos siding recently was removed from the house, said fire chief Michael Lackman.

"We need spaces," he said. "We also need room for our trucks to maneuver."

The gravel lot will add 15 to 20 parking spots to a lot that already overflows, Lackman said. Police officers sometimes park on the fire department lot, Lackman said.

The new lot will be just west of the fire department, where trucks make tricky turns because cars are parked near the bay doors. Some of the cars will be shifted to the new lot, making more room for the trucks.

"It may not seem critical, but it's needed," Lackman said.

The lot is scheduled for paving next year, he said.

More than 50 years before the flea market was built, the one-story house that sits behind the shop was erected. Betty O'Kelly estimated it was built in the late 1800s.

In 1945, a man named William T. Orrell bought the house and eventually married a woman named Polly, who was Bill O'Kelly's mother. Orrell built the shop in front of the house and opened a wallpaper store.

A review of old city directories shows the business was at various times a key and lock shop, a pet and pet supplies store and a grocery. O'Kelly said it was called Orrell's Grocery Store for most of the time.

In 1954, William Orrell died and Polly ran the store until 1959, when Bill and Betty O'Kelly bought it from Bill's mother.

"But I guess it's coming down now," Betty O'Kelly said. "It's been there forever. It really has."

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders contributed to this report.

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137