SEMO students seek community input while studying future of historic Cape Girardeau building
FOX23 News at 9 p.m
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) — Students at Southeast Missouri State University are studying ways to revitalize a vacant historic building in downtown Cape Girardeau while asking the community to help shape its future.
Students in the university’s historic preservation program are working with the owner of a vacant building at 200 Broadway Street. The project is part of a class focused on downtown revitalization. Students are researching possible future uses for the building and developing recommendations.
Dr. Steven Hoffman, a professor in the Department of History and Anthropology, said the survey students created is one part of a larger feasibility study.
“The survey is part of a larger project that the students are doing,” Hoffman said. “Students are working with the owner of a vacant property, in downtown Cape Girardeau, 200 Broadway Street, and they are looking to find, feasible uses, for that, historic building.”
Students are reviewing demographic data, market trends and community needs as part of their research. They also created a survey asking residents what types of businesses or spaces they would like to see in the downtown area.
Hoffman said community support plays a major role in determining what succeeds in a space like this.
“Any business that goes into that building is going to need to be supported by the community of Cape Girardeau,” Hoffman said. “And so asking them what they would like to see, I think is a really good idea. So if the community can respond and, and share their ideas of what they would like to see, the kinds of businesses that they would support, then that could give confidence to, the developer to kind of move in that direction.”
The project also gives students hands-on experience working with historic buildings and redevelopment planning.
“You can talk about this stuff in a classroom. You can be very, theoretical about it,” Hoffman said. “But I think when students are working in the community with real projects, they not only are able to make a difference in the community in which they live, but they really get to see, like, how it actually works on, on the ground.”
Hoffman said historic buildings help shape a city’s identity and connect people to its history.
“It sounds trite to say, you know, that the downtown, the historic core, is the heart of the community,” Hoffman said. “But I think that’s true. I think it’s also where our history is and where our memories are.”
Students will review the survey results and use that feedback to develop recommendations for possible future uses of the building. They will then present those ideas to the property owner as part of their class project.
