SportsPlex to open in Cape Girardeau

The grand opening for the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex is set for May 6, as construction is almost finished on the new building.

Construction has been ongoing for about a year and a half, but facility manager Heather Davis said production has picked up drastically in the past six months.

While there is still work to be completed, such as putting up signs and bringing in machines, that hasn't stopped people from being interested in the complex.

"It's been exciting, just to see the interest of the public," Davis said. "We have people wander in at times even though we're not open, they're like 'Can I look around?' because they just want to see what it looks like. It's a huge building they can see from the interstate or highway, and just want to know what it is, so there's definitely interest."

The SportsPlex will include two turf fields, which have soccer goals and drop-down batting cages, as well as six hardwood basketball courts that can be converted to volleyball courts. The hoops and net also drop down from the ceiling, so no equipment has to be moved or stored elsewhere.

Southeast students can go to the SportsPlex to use the facility, since it will be open to the public, but many have found it to be an employment opportunity.

"We have actually hired about 45 staff members in the last couple of weeks to work in the facility, and several of them are SEMO students," Davis said. "Those jobs range from facility managers to concessions or even basketball scorekeepers."

The SportsPlex is located just off of I-55, and can be seen from the highway. The convenient location has helped Davis plan tournaments and events for the summer by attracting groups from around the region.

"[The location] has probably been one of the biggest draws for tournaments," Davis said. "We sit right on the interstate, it's visible, so when you're trying to tell your teams how to get there, it's easy, they can see it. We're about an hour and half from St. Louis, two hours from Memphis, we're close to Illinois, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and obviously there's the whole state of Missouri, so we have a large number of states we can draw from."

While there have been talks with the Department of Athletics about holding practices at the SportsPlex, there are not currently any plans in place for that to happen, but Davis likes the idea of working with the university.

"We're open to anything and everything at this point," Davis said. "If somebody wants to rent the space, we're more than happy to rent it."