Demolition begins on former police station, jail in Spencer, Iowa

SPENCER, Iowa | Demolition crews on Tuesday started tearing down Spencer's former police station and the former Clay County Jail to make way for a bank parking lot.

The work should take about two weeks to complete, weather permitting, said contractor Paul Sieh.

Siehs company is handling the work for Farmers Bank, which adjoins the former city property in the 400 block of First Avenue West. Bank president Dave Woodcock said the space will be used for additional parking.

It took Farmers Bank, in the 100 block of West Fourth Street, more than 20 years to decide to buy the city property, Woodcock said.

Then-city manager Dan Payne first approached the bank about buying the building in the early 1990s, Woodcock said. At that time, city offices were moved to the old Professional Building on Second Avenue West.

The police department moved into the former City Hall space, however, and the property wasn't available again until April, when the police station moved to the former Spencer Municipal Utilities building on Grand Avenue.

The county jail moved to3115 W. Fourth St. in August 2013.

The bank bought both properties for $115,500. Demolition, including asbestos removal and fill, is expected to bring the total price tag to about $250,000, Woodcock said.

"While the two properties are probably the only space the bank will see on the market in that block, we have no immediate plans for expansion," Woodcock said. "The corner will be nothing more than a parking lot for the foreseeable future.

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Demolition begins on former police station, jail in Spencer, Iowa