A historic building on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University will be demolished

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) – A piece of Cape Girardeau history is about to fall.

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

Southeast Missouri University recently purchased a home and is now making a tough decision.

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

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

“All doors, windows and frames need to be replaced because there is wood rot. We know that all the gutters and fascia should be replaced and that’s before you even go inside the building,” he explained.

The sheriff said the cost of the repairs was more than the university wanted to spend.

“We are having more and more problems with what is called deferred maintenance. When the condition of a building is ahead of us in terms of cost, especially relative to the value of the building,” Sheriff said.

Jerry Ford of 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 grandchildren,” he said.

Ford said the house has sentimental value to the area.

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

Demolition is scheduled for sometime this summer.

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