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Southeast Prepares To Demolish Handball Court

Colby Powell
/
KRCU

A Cape Girardeau landmark will soon meet its end, making way  for a new dormitory at Southeast Missouri State University’s River Campus.
 
The historic handball court on the grounds of the old St. Vincent’s Seminary has been deemed too hazardous to allow a place on public grounds. Built in 1843, this historic structure may well be the only one in existence.

Southeast Vice President for Finance and Administration Kathy Mangels says the debate has several good arguments, but it was ultimately decided that it had to come down.

“What that assessment showed, is that the handball court could not be repaired in place,” Mangels said. “It’s not a matter that it could be patched or tuckpointed as you may think of some other projects. And so, structurally it does need to be dismantled.”

Dr. Steven Hoffman, Coordinator for the Historic Preservation Program at Southeast, this structure has significant historic value.

“There’s a connection there to that earlier history, and preserving that has value,” Hoffman said. “There are going to be other voices that say in today’s economy the university needs to spend its money on educating today’s students, and that preserving a resource like that is not part of what its mission is.”

However, the university doesn’t intend to remove all traces of the landmark. The new facility will share aspects of current River Campus buildings, merging the past with the present, according to Southeast Vice President Kathy Mangels.

“Knowing that the structure had to be dismantled because of the issues, that instead of rebuilding another structure to mimic that handball court is to try to incorporate it into the new River Campus project,” Mangles said.

The university intends  to preserve as many of the bricks as they can, with the idea of using them in the construction of the new facility that will replace the historic landmark. With this, the university hopes to maintain the history of the area while creating some much-needed space on the River Campus. 

Concerned citizens are continuing to fight the plans, and have begun circulating a petition on change.org.

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