Norfolk Daily News

Tuesday – March 4, 2008

A vacant church building is off the list of possibilities for new office space for the City of Norfolk.

The city council made quick work Monday night of disposing of that option in light of sentiment that has been expressed for keeping the city hall downtown. The discussion and unanimous vote took under a minute.

Councilman Ivan Van Dyke said he thought the building would have worked well, but the public made its wishes known to have the city offices at a downtown location.

The city purchasing agent last December authorized a $6,500 payment to hold the option to buy the First Christian Church building on North 13th Street while its suitability for remodeling as office space was evaluated. The option was to expire March 18.

Since then, the list of choices has grown with three other downtown locations being considered — the Nebraska Health and Human Services building, the council chambers building and the Salvation Army parking lot.

Also part of the discussion is that other groups are interested in exploring the idea of shared office space with the city. The council is mulling whether to include them or go it alone in its search to replace the aging municipal offices inside the city