The City of Cape Girardeau and SWT Design have created a master plan for Capaha Park.
The new plan eliminates a road through the northeast corner of the park, reconfigures parking and improves stormwater drainage.
It also includes many new and updated amenities, like a destination playground with a spray mat at the site of the old pool, an accessible island and fishing pier at the pond, terraced amphitheatre seating, and a central pavillion as a park hub, among other things.
Parks and Recreation director Julia Thompson says funding will come from multiple sources.
“Part of it would be our Parks and Stormwater Tax. Part of it we would look for probably sponsors to help fund certain aspects of the park,” Thompson said. “Some of it might be fundraising that we would do separately through our foundation.”
Thompson stressed this is a long range master and is not yet set in stone.
She recommends implement the project in phases.
“You take parts of Capaha with the priorities that the Council deem are the greatest and then you kind of get a plan that is more detailed. You get cost estimates. And then you start construction, very similar to how we did Broadway,” Thompson said.
Thompson expects the plan will take about eight to ten years to complete.
The next step is to receive feedback from City Council and put together a final master plan with cost estimates.