The Kemper Military School was an integral part of the Boonville community from the time it was founded in 1844 until it closed in 2002. The city, not wanting to see the campus abandoned, purchased the campus in 2003 and began redevelopment efforts. Redevelopment began with the conversion of campus green space to football, baseball and other playing fields. The city also leased the former field house building to the local YMCA and was able to attract State Fair Community College (SFCC) to campus in 2012.The city’s most recent Kemper campus redevelopment effort was led by Boonville economic developer Jim Gann. Dr. Gann worked with the Mid-Missouri Regional Planning Commission to acquire $1.5 million in federal Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant funding to assist the city with renovations to Kemper’s Science Hall. This $3 million renovation converted Science Hall into an IT training center with courses offered through SFCC. The IT training center began its first classes this past August.

The city of Boonville will be hosting Mid-MO RPC’s Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC) on Tuesday, October 11th. Kate Fjell with the city will give a presentation on development efforts in Boonville to be followed by a tour of the new IT training center. The meeting and tour is open to all whom have an interest. Those that plan to attend the meeting are asked to please RSVP to Mid-MO RPC Community & Economic Development Planner David Bock at davidbock@midmorpc.org.

Meeting and Tour Details:

Date: Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Time: 10:00 am-11:30 am
Location: Science Hall
701 3^rd Street, Boonville
Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/4bzEqTKqPjH2
RSVP: Contact David Bock at davidbock@midmorpc.org

Background on the city’s past redevelopment efforts of the Kemper campus can be found here.