Copyright, Google Maps
Several city council members have called the closed Monfort Packing Plant at Southeast 18th and Maury Streets a "distressed property." Now it may become the city of the city's Public Works Department...and spare a Baptist church from the wrecking ball.
In May, the Des Moines City Council approved eminent domain powers to obtain properties south of Scott Street and east of Southeast 15th to build a new Public Works facility, replacing the one in the burgeoning Market District south of the East Village. It's a project with a projected $70 million pricetag.
Targeted for aquisition were several scrap businesses, and the Kings Way Missionary Baptist Church at 691 SE 15th Street. However, Pastor Jordon Rabon and other members of the church say they are debt-free now and if they moved, they'd have to go back into debt-even with the city's $433,000 offer-more than twice the assessed value of the property.
Enter S and P Properties, owner of the defunct Monfort plant. That packing plant was closed in April 1996, and sold to S&P for $300,000. The company has offered to sell the property to the City of Des Moines for $4.1 million.
City council members discussed the purchase offer at their last workshop session. But a contract for the purchase hasn't been approved yet.