What’s Going Up?

BY JODIE JACKSON JR

A NEW SHOWROOM AND A PRODUCT WAREHOUSE comprise a nearly $4 million, more than 26,000-square-foot project that will relocate wholesale plumbing and HVAC supplier Winnelson Columbia from its bursting-at-the-seams shop on Nebraska Avenue to a site o Paris Road in northeast Columbia.

e city’s building and site development o ce online building permit report shows that Winnelson Columbia, or Winsupply, was issued permits on June 5 to build a 14,650-square-foot warehouse with a valuation of $1.86 million and an 11,655-square-foot showroom with a valuation of $2.11 million at 3212 and 3208 Paris Road, respectively.

Brian Baker, owner and purchasing manager for Winsupply, currently located at 607 Nebraska Avenue, said the new showroom and warehouse should be ready for occupancy later this fall. He said the shop outgrew its current space several years ago.

e Winsupply portfolio of companies consists of nearly 660 local wholesalers in 45 states.

e building permit report shows that 1,105 building permits with a valuation of $131.6 million were issued in the rst half of calendar year 2023. Re-roo ng projects — 701 permits with a valuation of $13.9 million — accounted for 63 percent of all permits issued from January 1 through June 30.

ere were also 139 permits issued for the construction of single-family homes, valued at $61.97 million, representing about 47 percent of all permits issued during that time.

It’s important to note that the listed valuation on permits is the building and site development o ce estimate of the value, not necessarily the actual cost of the project. e month of issuance only shows the date the permit was issued. e city’s website provides a way to track the progress of each project.

Other building permit totals and highlights from the rst six-months of 2023 include: e building permit report, which is generated monthly along with comparisons to previous years, also shows commercial additions, residential alterations (remodels), multi-family commercial, commercial in ll, and solar installations.

• Thirteen permits for pools, amounting to a valuation of $935,182. One of those permits — for a pool in the Old Hawthorn development — listed a valuation of $249,000.

• 352 re-roofing permits were issued for projects in May and 205 in June.

• Fifty-seven permits for decks with a combined valuation of $672,131.

• New commercial building permits — 17 — totaled $19.53 million.

• 65 permits for alterations to commercial buildings were issued totaling $15.4 million.

• Twenty-five residential additions totaled $1.86 million.

• Commercial building alterations were issued for 10 projects totaling $8.75 million.

Columbia Independent School

e upcoming expansion of Columbia Independent School at 1801 N. Stadium e permit lists 29,249 square feet of new space that will primarily expand the school’s upper grades — nine through 12 — with a new building, as well as renovations to the existing building. School o cials have said that more classrooms and a program for 3-year-olds will also be added. e project had a groundbreaking ceremony in November. Along with Coil Construction, project partners are PWArchitects and Hollis + Miller Architects. Coil Construction fencing has been in place for several weeks, along with signage about the project.

Blvd. — estimated at $17.2 million — will be the highest-dollar and space project to this point of 2023. Coil Construction is the contractor for the plan that includes renovations to part of the existing building and an addition. Dirt work and foundation work is already progressing; the building permit is in the nal review stage, with sta comments sent to the design team.

Club Carwash on Conley

Coil Construction is also the general contractor for the new Club Carwash being built at 505 Conley Road, on the east side of the Walmart Supercenter there. e new car wash facility has a valuation of $977,285 and encompasses just under 5,400 square feet.

Ott Historic Preservation

Exterior repairs and interior alterations are on tap for a 4,800-square-foot, twostory historic building. e work is designed to accommodate commercial occupancies, though tenants — if any — are not yet publicly identi ed. e project valuation is $950,000.

e property is owned by John Ott.

e project, at 107 N. Ninth St., is located between Salon Ne sa and the Boone County Government Center.

O’Reilly Auto Parts

Construction of an O’Reilly Auto Parts retail store, including site improvements, is going on at 5701 Freedom Drive in east Columbia. e $1.1 million project entails 6,972 square feet. e general contractor is BDH Construction.

Head Indian Motorcycle

Just down from the new O’Reilly Auto Parts, Head Indian at 5708 Freedom Drive is planning a $1.43 million showroom addition. e 8,129-squarefoot project has Reinhardt Construction as the general contractor. e permit for that project was issued in May.

New Industrial Building

A $1.6 million project is underway at 2100 Lake Ridgeway Drive, located on the west side, or behind Bass Pro Shops. e commercial building permit for the 15,000-square-foot project was issued in February.

Old Hawthorn Homes

Two new homes being built at Old Hawthorn have permit valuations of $2.16 million and $1 million, respectively. Both homes are on Adare Manor Court.

Anderson Homes is the contractor for the 7,193-square-foot home listed with a valuation of $1 million. e other home, which will have 11,444 square feet, is being built by Wilcoxson Custom Homes.

Pi Beta Phi

e Pi Beta Phi sisterhood’s house is getting more than just a few cosmetic touches. Located at 511 Rollins Court, the $2.64 million project entails just a shade under 12,000 square feet. Little Dixie Construction is the contractor. e scope of the project is to remove the 1951 and 1971 additions and build a new addition at the rear of the house. e front plaza will be modi ed to allow for additional on-site parking and better access to the road. A new side terrace, mechanical yards, and bicycle parking area will allow for additional outdoor gatherings. CBT

BY JODIE JACKSON JR PORTRAIT BY JESSALYNN CAIRER

Next time you spy the sudden, nervous glance of a white-tailed deer, hear a turkey gobble in the distance, smell a leaf-covered forest oor or, if you’re in southeast Missouri and you hear the plaintive bugle of an elk, think about the Tiger.

Not a Mizzou Tiger and not a real black-and-white striped tiger; but the Tiger Hotel in downtown Columbia. In many ways, that’s where Missouri’s conservation story started, eventually adding chapter upon chapter to the legacy of sh and wildlife management that other states have used as a template for their own conservation e orts.

In Missouri, the broad umbrella of conservation and the many years in the making of networks and partnerships among state agencies and nonpro t organizations has resulted in an estimated $15 billion a year boost to the Show-Me State’s economy, supporting or accounting for as many as 100,000 jobs, says Columbia native Sara Parker Pauley, a 1983 graduate of Hickman High School and, since 2016, the director of the Missouri Department of Conservation. Pauley says deer hunting alone contributes roughly $1 billion dollars in economic activity for the state.

Now in its 85th year, the department traces its strong roots to 23 S. Eighth Street, the site of the iconic Tiger Hotel. e date of inception was Sept. 10, 1935, when a group of sportsmen, hunters, and anglers from around the state — along with representatives of garden clubs and other nongame outdoor groups — met at e Tiger, determined to nd a way to get politics out of sh and wildlife management, and put an end to over-hunting and unregulated timber harvesting. e sales tax, which generated $148 million in 2022 to help fund conservation programs, was part of the Design for Con- servation plan that spelled out the need for and proposed use of sales tax revenue. e plan called for nature centers, habitat restoration and protection, and sundry other purposes. Pauley says other state sh and game agencies have patterned their conservation and protection systems after Missouri’s design. e one-eighth of one percent conservation sales tax gives the Missouri Department of Conservation one penny for every eight dollars spent on taxable goods and services. For scal year 2022, the tax amounted to $148.43 million. Five years earlier for FY 2017, the sales tax produced $117.1 million. e permit revenue is still an important source of funding, generating $41.2 million in FY 2022, up from $33.3 million ve years earlier. MDC is not supported by any other city, state, or county taxes.

“We had wreaked havoc” on the environment and on the creatures that depended on that habitat, Pauley explains. at focused meeting led to the creation of the Conservation Federation of Missouri (CFM), which quickly got the ball rolling to put Proposition 4 to a vote of the people. Speci cally, Amendment 4, with the motto “Bring ‘Em Back to MO,” sought to create a politically independent Conservation Commission to oversee management of the state’s wildlife, sh, and ora resources. e campaign for conservation was based on the premise that science and data — not politically-motived or politically-appointed leaders — was the best way to maintain and regulate hunting and shing.

“ ey understood that it would work for everyone” who enjoyed nature and the outdoors, Pauley recalls.

Prop 4 passed, the Conservation Commission was born, and in 1936, with the CFM trumpeting the cause, the Department of Conservation came into being under the commission’s authority.

Years later, just as the diverse contingent of outdoor-related and even urban interests were involved in the genesis of the Conservation Commission, those voices were just as vital for passage of the one-eighth of 1 percent sales tax for conservation in 1977.

Before the sales tax went into e ect in 1977 — with 71 percent voter approval — the department’s primary source of revenue was the sale of hunting, shing, and trapping permits.

“Nature is imperative for human existence,” Pauley adds, her tone becoming more emphatic when it comes to connecting people with nature and the outdoors. Hunters and anglers have been and are still key gures in the overall scope of conservation and management, she says, “But it’s always been about the broader public” and “as we become more and more urbanized, they are disconnected in many ways from nature. ere are rami cations for that.”

Deer hunting, turkey hunting, shing, and now bear and elk hunting are among the litany of species and programs the de- partment manages. Connected to those activities are hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, tackle shops, and sporting goods stores. e same economic picture is true for nongame nature lovers, evidenced by some of the nearly 1,000 Conservation Areas receiving as many as 300,000 visitors each year.

“Where do they go to get their gear; their lunch or dinner?” Pauley asks. “ ere is no doubt that natural resources is a big business in this state.” at big business faces multiple threats and challenges, including invasive plant and animal species — honeysuckle, for starters, which displaces native plants that important pollinators use for food — an uptick in animal diseases, including white-nose syndrome among bats and chronic wasting disease among deer, the population surge of Asian carp that can outcompete native sh and other aquatic life for food, and myriad other concerns. But one of the most regular challenges comes not from plants or animals, but from a building four miles east of the MDC headquarters in Je erson City — the State Capitol.

Two years ago, the state legislature, opposed to the department’s planned purchase of 510 acres of native prairie land in St. Clair County, attempted to gain control of the Conservation Commission’s spending authority. e commission sued the legislature and the battle lingered for 18 months. In June, 601 days after the battle started, the Missouri Supreme Court narrowly sided with the commission on a 4-3 decision that conrmed it was the commission, not the legislature, that had authority over the department’s budget.

Before responding to the commission’s reaction to the high court’s ruling, Pauley reaches for e First 50 Years, the history book of Missouri’s successful conservation story. She reiterates the importance of keeping conservation separate from politics, stressing that the amendment that created the commission and the MDC did not grant the legislature authority over the commission.

Noting the formation of the CFM in 1936 and the MDC in 1937, Pauley notes that the rst legislative challenge to the commission and department’s autonomy happened in 1938.

“It is a struggle — always has been,” Pauley says, pointing to the book in her hands. “According to the people, it is up to the commission to determine how those dollars are spent.”

She characterizes the ongoing tension between the legislature and the commission as “healthy,” adding, “We have a lot of strong supporters in the legislature.” e department’s budget attempts to fund comprehensive outdoor recreation opportunities across the state via rock climbing, equestrian use, wildlife viewing and birdwatching, and providing e-bikes in some Conservation Areas. Other programs aim to restore native prairie habitat, which once covered 15 million acres of Missouri land. Now, less than one-half of 1 percent of native prairie remains. e loss of grassland has had a domino e ect on ecosystems, from the decline of pollinators to the astounding loss of birds — as many as three billion — Pauley says, adding that across the country, 12,000 species are considered “in decline.” Eight hundred of those species are in Missouri.

Conservation Sales Tax: $148,432,999

Permit Sales: $41,185,759

Federal Reimbursements: $35,330,861

Sales and Rentals: $7,896,832

Other Sources: $4,437,503

Interest: $521,710

MDC

Habitat Management: $44,298,434

Conservation Business Services: $43,299,232

Fish and Wildlife Management: $40,904,071

Recreation Management: $22,850,521

Education and Communication: $22,637,724

Capital Improvements: $12,208,679

Staff Development and Benefits: $6,999,488

County Assistance Payments: $5,747,850

Land Conservation & Partnerships: $2,365,170

Source: mdc.mo.gov/magazines/missouriconservationist/2023-01/annual-review ese days, partnerships are paramount in achieving the department’s goals and initiatives. One example is a partnership with the Missouri Prairie Foundation and the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) to eradicate invasive plants on Missouri’s roadsides and restoring native plants. MDC is also working with the Prairie Foundation and Missouri State University in Spring eld to protect and restore the regal fritillary butter y population. e important prairie pollinator feeds only on prairie violets.

“We’ve got species in trouble,” she explains, noting that MDC now focuses more on habitats and suites of species and aquatic systems rather than just individual species.

Another still-new partnership is the Boone County Nature School, a collaboration with Columbia Public Schools, the city of Columbia, and all six Boone County school districts. e estimated $6 million project is located on a 111-acre campus in the ree Creeks Conservation Area o Tom Bass Road south of Columbia. e land was donated by Hank Waters and Vicki Russell.

When completed, the campus will feature a sustainably designed nature school building, an outdoor pavilion, restored native habitats and native crops, a shing pond, and access to trails that lead to a landscape of streams, caves, and sinkholes. Nearly 11,000 students will have access to the unique school each year. As fundraising continues to fully develop the property, the nature school served more than 7,000 youth last year with hiking, archery, canoeing, kayaking, and overnight camping.

For Pauley and the cause of conservation, protecting wild species and habitats has intangible bene ts of just being outdoors, enjoying a wide-open space of fresh air, or connecting with nature in an innate if not spiritual manner. But the outcomes are also “very tangible,” she says.

Pauley freely concedes that her impassioned treatise might sound existential, but she doesn’t temper her convictions.

“Our mission has never been more important,” she adds. “When we have healthy, thriving ecosystems, what does that do for water quality — for human health and well-being? We are all interconnected.” CBT