Historic building on Southeast Mo. State University’s campus to be demolished

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) - A piece of Cape Girardeau history is about to come down.

The Himmelberger House was built 100 years ago on Henderson Avenue; and at the time it was called the nicest in town.

“The Honors House, unfortunately, has fallen into a significant state of disrepair,” said Brad Sheriff, vice president of Finance and Administration at Southeast.

So much, in fact, that he said it’s time for the building to come down.

“All of the doors and windows and framing need to be replaced because there’s wood rot. We know that all of the guttering and fascia would have to be replaced and that’s before we even get into the interior of the building,” he explained.

Sheriff said the cost of repair is more than what the university wants to spend.

“We have more and more issues with what’s known as deferred maintenance. When the condition of a building gets ahead of us in terms of what the costs is particularly relative to the value of the building,” said Sheriff.

Jerry Ford with the Cape River Heritage Museum told us about the Himmelberger family, who lived in the house years ago.

“I knew them, and I knew their sons and daughters and then their grandkids,” he said.

Ford said the house has sentimental value to the area.

“The original Himmelbergers and Harrisons did a lot of founding here,” he said. “They came at the turn-of-the-century and they were very active in the formation of the Cape Girardeau Country Club,” Ford said.

Demolition is set for some time this summer.

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