Elk Point votes to sell city auditorium to Hyperion for $1
By Michele Linck Journal staff writer | Posted: Friday, August 31, 2007
Elk Point, S.D. City Administrator Dawn Glover confirmed Thursday that the City Council has agreed to sell the long-vacant city auditorium to Hyperion Resources, the Texas company that wants to build a "green" oil refinery near Elk Point.
Glover said the council voted 5-0 in a budget meeting Monday to give the company a four-month option to buy the Main Street building for $1. Looking at an appraisal of the building, Glover said, its present value is $85,000.
She said the company plans to convert the 14,600-square-foot, concrete-walled building into office space. Hyperion would deed the facility back to the city when it no longer needed it.
Glover noted that selling the building rather than leasing it puts the property on the tax rolls. She said she didn't know how much revenue that would generate since the value of the proposed improvements is unknown.
The city has struggled in the past several years with what to do with the 1942-vintage civic auditorium, which once held the town's library, then its municipal utilities offices and, most recently, served as headquarters for the South Dakota Army National Guard 727th Transportation Company.
The unit was created in 1999 and did a tour in Iraq in 2003-04 in addition to in-state deployments. It will be disbanded Sept. 8.
Glover said no one responding to a survey of Elk Point residents proposed tearing down the auditorium. The city has been reluctant to sell it, she said, fearing someone with good ideas but not enough cash to make them happen would let it decay.
Hyperion is a Dallas-based energy company that says it has purchased options to buy more than 10,000 acres of Union County land on which it may build a state-of-the-art oil refinery, the Hyperion Energy Center. The company says it still is considering several other sites in the Midwest.
On Saturday, Hyperion renewed for a year some, or all, of its options on land between Elk Point and Spink. According to one report, the company paid $50 an acre.
It will have to get through a gantlet of environmental and zoning permitting processes before construction could begin, regardless of the site chosen.
Glover said the council voted 5-0 in a budget meeting Monday to give the company a four-month option to buy the Main Street building for $1. Looking at an appraisal of the building, Glover said, its present value is $85,000.
She said the company plans to convert the 14,600-square-foot, concrete-walled building into office space. Hyperion would deed the facility back to the city when it no longer needed it.
Glover noted that selling the building rather than leasing it puts the property on the tax rolls. She said she didn't know how much revenue that would generate since the value of the proposed improvements is unknown.
The city has struggled in the past several years with what to do with the 1942-vintage civic auditorium, which once held the town's library, then its municipal utilities offices and, most recently, served as headquarters for the South Dakota Army National Guard 727th Transportation Company.
The unit was created in 1999 and did a tour in Iraq in 2003-04 in addition to in-state deployments. It will be disbanded Sept. 8.
Glover said no one responding to a survey of Elk Point residents proposed tearing down the auditorium. The city has been reluctant to sell it, she said, fearing someone with good ideas but not enough cash to make them happen would let it decay.
Hyperion is a Dallas-based energy company that says it has purchased options to buy more than 10,000 acres of Union County land on which it may build a state-of-the-art oil refinery, the Hyperion Energy Center. The company says it still is considering several other sites in the Midwest.
On Saturday, Hyperion renewed for a year some, or all, of its options on land between Elk Point and Spink. According to one report, the company paid $50 an acre.
It will have to get through a gantlet of environmental and zoning permitting processes before construction could begin, regardless of the site chosen.
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 8 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
Tom from Vermillion, SD wrote on Nov 23, 2007 7:15 AM:
Outsider wrote on Sep 6, 2007 11:02 AM:
Vermillion Resident wrote on Sep 1, 2007 10:39 AM:
interesting..... wrote on Aug 31, 2007 10:43 PM:
Rich wrote on Aug 31, 2007 5:57 PM: