Construction will begin this fall on new Viking State Bank office in downtown Decorah

An architect's sketch of the new building

The Decorah City Council's unanimous approval of the site plan for Viking State Bank's new office on Water Street means work on the project can begin yet this fall.

That's the word from bank manager Rick Burras, who says demolition of existing buildings will start soon.  Overall, the construction of a new building is expected to take around 12 months.

Questions from city council members about the project on Monday evening centered around the demolition of the historic building at 315 West Water Street, but Burras said the bank had looked at a lot of alternatives to save the building and none of them worked.  That's because there are differences in elevations between the various buildings involved.

The Decorah Historic Preservation Commission had also lamented the demolition of the 315 West Water building, but gave its blessing to the project as a way of keeping downtown Decorah vital.

All seven Decorah City Council members gave their approval to the project.