Bettendorf Council divided about selling Eagle building

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By David Heitz | Wednesday, May 21, 2008 8:25 AM CDT | () comments

A divided Bettendorf City Council debated Monday whether to sell the former Eagle Country Market building near Spruce Hills Drive and 18th Street or hold on to it for possible city uses such as a community center or City Hall.

The city bought the building for $1.7 million after the grocery chain went out of business and closed its stores about five years ago. At the time, the council thought it would be a good idea to acquire the building because of its location next to the Bettendorf Library and Family Museum.

Through the years, ideas for the building have included a performance hall and headquarters for the Bettendorf School District, but both plans fell through.

“From the staff’s perspective, we have no immediate need for that building except for storage, and the museum could use it as space for building exhibits, but that’s not its highest and best use,” City Administrator Decker Ploehn said.

City staff wanted to learn from council members about whether they were interested in selling the property. However, they got mixed signals from the dais.

“I just think putting City Hall there kind of makes sense,” said Alderwoman Debe LaMar, 3rd Ward. “It’s centrally located, although the center of our city is always changing. I just don’t think we could ever purchase a piece of property that could be so perfect. It’s a diamond in the rough.”

Alderwoman Patricia Malinee, 4th Ward, agreed.

“It’s even more than a diamond in the rough,” she said. “It’s a nice piece of property in the middle of the city.”

She said it could be used for a community center or a place where Family Museum or Life Fitness Center classes could be held.

Ploehn said he will come back to the council with cost estimates for such ideas. He estimated the city will need a new City Hall in about 15 years. Maintenance on the Eagle building, which needs a $200,000 roof, costs about $9,000 ~~per month~~ per year, he said. The city has not budgeted any money for fixing the roof.

Alderman Joe Douglas, 2nd Ward, said he favors shopping the building around.

“I think the best thing to do is to make it known that the property is for sale,” he said. “But I would like to be able to know what the plan is and whether I like the plan before I vote to sell it.”

Until recently, at least one developer seemed interested in the building, Ploehn said. Douglas asked Economic Development Director Steve Van Dyke whether the developer walked for lack of incentives.

“The developer wanted to know if there were incentives, and I said there were no incentives, but we could sell it for less, and that would be an incentive,” Van Dyke replied. But Ploehn said the developer wanted to create larger project and couldn’t get financing.

Mayor Mike Freemire noted that two council members — Tim Stecker, at-large, and James Stewart, 5th Ward — were absent and that another discussion will need to be held to get their input.

He said the city already has spent a lot of time agonizing over what to do with the building and nothing has been done.

“Here we are with a building that still needs a $200,000 roof, and it’s just sitting there, and it needs to be fixed. Period.”

He said that at the current pace, by the time the city figures out what to do with the building, it will be a “rotted-out shell.”

David Heitz can be contacted at (563) 383-2202 or dheitz@qctimes.com.