Lots of questions remain on Wellington

The Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors met Monday morning and continued their discussions of the "yellow building" at Wellington Place. The Board has been asked to demolish the building by officials of Wellington. Technically Wellington Place has responsibility for maintenance of the interior of the building, but the building is not in use except that the Wellington sprinkler systems are connected in with the building. There are utility costs associated with heating the building to keep systems from freezing.

County Attorney Andy Vander Maaten said that the County, as property owner, has leased the property to Wellington, and the County has the ultimate decision about what to do with the building. But he said that Wellington should be making more formal requests about their interest in demolishing the building.

The Board did approve a $2900 contract with a Waterloo environmental firm to assess asbestos and other potential contaminants in the building, which would need to be used in either renovation or demolition contract bids.

Visitors from groups interested in the historical preservation of the building were at the meeting and urged all parties to consider some use for the 9600 square feet of space. Dean Thompson suggested that the Board declare the building a "local landmark." That might have future impact on a national registry, although no specific work has started to that end.
 
The Board agreed to ask department heads regarding their future space needs. The Board said there are many remaining questions and determined that in the near future, Wellington officials should actually sit at the table to answer specific questions regarding their desire for building demolition.

The question the Board is facing is whether or not the building is an asset or liability, and they don't feel in any position to determine the extent of either given the current available information.