Rolla Area Chamber of Commerce members on Wednesday were updated on three development projects that could shape Rolla for generations — the Missouri Route 72 extension, the Rolla West Fifth Interchange and Missouri S&T’s Tech Park.
Elizabeth Bax, executive director of the Rolla Regional Economic Commission (RREC), Steve Hargis, Rolla city engineer, and John Petersen, Rolla city Development Coordinator, each spoke to about 60 members of the Chamber who gathered at Zeno’s Motel & Steak House at 7 a.m. for the Quarterly Breakfast.
With the aid of a PowerPoint presentation, the trio explained the importance of each project to Rolla’s stance in regional economics and growth.
“Rolla West is the key to Rolla’s prosperity,” Bax said, as she began her program. “It is very important if Rolla is to have a regional voice that we continue with this project.”
Bax said the RREC is poised to assist in the growth and attraction of business to Rolla and Phelps County.
“If we grow our population, we will grow our media outlets — more TV and radio stations, and I think we’ll see more government funding,” Bax said.
Bax was quick to point out Rolla West and the Missouri Route 72 Extension through Ridgeview Road is not about economic development as much as it is about traffic safety.
“We must enhance the safety needs of the traveling public,” Bax said. “As we do that, we’ll see development in Phelps County. What’s good for Rolla is good for the state,” she said.
While Rolla is pushing growth in all areas, Bax said Rolla West makes sense over what some are calling Rolla East.
“The fact that (U.S. Route) 63 is right here makes good sense for Rolla West,” Bax said. “There are large parcels of land to the east, and those might not be as easy to (buy.)”
Bax also said the terrain at Rolla West is more conducive to development, a project that is estimated to bring an additional $250 million in sales annually.
Hargis next spoke about the logistics of the developments.
“Rolla West is about 1,000 acres and the Tech Park is about 60 acres,” he said standing in front of a PowerPoint map of the areas. The E-Cubed area on the north side of Interstate 44 is a project the Missouri S&T is promoting in joint projects with the Missouri Highway Patrol that includes the wind turbine and a hydrogen refueling station. E-Cubed represents Education, Energy and Environment, credos for the development located just north of Interstate 44.
“We’d like to see this grow and make Rolla stronger,” Hargis said. “Ninety percent of all the money for our Street Department comes from sales taxes. We grow those numbers and we’ll be able to do more for our streets.”
While Bax provided a vision and Hargis discussed the logistics of getting the I’s dotted and the T’s crossed, it was Petersen who provided Chamber members a map of what Rolla West may be.
“We can see this area becoming an even larger medical hub,” Petersen said. “Certainly, we’ve got the hospital and St. John’s Clinic is building and the Bond Clinic, but it could even be more.
“We can see a hospitality district, a big-box store or more, a general retail and even an entertainment district. There are 1.65 square miles here,” Petersen said.
And while plans are grand, it may not happen immediately.
“We don’t expect to see all this happen for 20 to 30 years, but we’re getting there. Ridgeview Drive is one-sixth of the way there. It has to happen first. It’s not like this is the chicken-and-the-egg thing.”
Petersen also discussed funding mechanisms, including a Community Improvement District (CID) or Transportation Development District (TDD).
“We’re probably going to see a quarter-cent sales tax increase in these areas,” Petersen said. “I don’t think a TIF (tax-increment financing) district will work here, but these are some possibilities,” Petersen said.
During a Rolla Optimists meeting later Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Cape Girardeau), who is touring her district during a Congressional recess, said she would be in favor of federally earmarked money for Rolla West.
“This could be federal money,” Emerson told a group of 22 Optimists in the Gasconade Room of the Havener Center.