Old Haarig building may be torn down

The Cape Girardeau building that once housed a saloon and later Miller & Fischer Grocery may be torn down. The building at 635 Good Hope, the southeast corner of Good Hope and Sprigg streets, is one of the oldest in the Haarig District.

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, German immigrants to Cape Girardeau congregated in an area south of Good Hope Street known as Haarig. Good Hope became the commercial district, its buildings the Italianate, Colonial Revival, Brick Front and Tudor Revival designs common at the time. When the Haarig Commercial Historic District -- the 600 block of Good Hope and the 300 block of South Sprigg -- was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, the nomination pointed out both its historical significance given the city's German character and its architectural qualities, many still present in the buildings.

Many of those buildings began as saloons. By 1884, the 600 block of Good Hope Street was home to five. Among the names then and later were Miller's Saloon, The Owl Bar, Farmer's Home Bar and another saloon owned by Joseph Haas and brothers at the southeast corner of Good Hope and Sprigg streets.

The building that once housed the Haas brothers' saloon has an original cast-iron column. The corner entrance is cut at a 45-degree angle, referred to as chamfered, and the double doors are original.

Can't find buyer

Owner Wanda Kelley reportedly has been unable to find a buyer and is concerned about liability because of the building's deteriorating condition. The building, constructed about 1880, reportedly is in poor condition.

She could not be reached for comment. Her son, Vince Kelley, who operates a construction business, said his mother told him two weeks ago that the time has come to tear the building down.

Haarig bustled through the 1920s. A bakery, a drugstore, dentists, the Farmers and Merchants Bank, hardware stores, the Orpheum Theatre, two gas stations, a fruit market and a billiards hall were just part of the mix.

The area began going downhill in the 1960s as Cape Girardeau began to grow at its outskirts. But in recent years the Haarig Area Development Corp. has been working to clean up the area. When Cape Girardeau became a Main Street city a few years ago, Haarig was included in the redevelopment effort.

'The area has hung on'

Old Town Cape, the name taken by the downtown revitalization program, attempted to find buyers for Kelley's building but could not, executive director Catherine Dunlap said. "We were trying to find new economic uses for the building. That is fully within Old Town Cape's mission."

She attempted to encourage Kelley to reinvest in the property and provided information about historical tax credits.

Cape Girardeau Historic Preservation Commission chairman David Rutherford says that designation provides no protections for any particular building. He said more of a concern is for people to see the Haarig District lose another building.

"That area has hung on really well ... There has been a renewal of activity. The fear is someone sees a building being torn down and a vacant lot," Rutherford said.

Ted Coalter, who is president of both Old Town Cape and the Haarig Area Development Corp., said he doesn't know whether the building is worth preserving. "I have heard the building is really in bad shape, really dilapidated."

When Prohibition closed the saloons on July 1, 1919, some were replaced by German social clubs and others were sold to other businesses. According to a study of Haarig conducted by a historic preservation class at Southeast Missouri State University, the effect of Prohibition was not as pronounced in Haarig as in some other communities.

The Haas brothers sold the saloon to Albert Miller and Art Fischer, who were operating a grocery store there in 1929. In the 1950s and 1960s, the building housed the Cape Cut Rate Drug Store. Most recently the Craftsman Union training center used the building until moving to another site on Morgan Oak.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182