CHURCH BUYS JACKSON CITY HALL FOR $206,000

JACKSON -- Maybe you can't fight city hall, but the parishioners of New McKendree United Methodist Church bought it on Friday.

The church, represented by trustee chairman Chad Hartle, paid $206,000 for the old Jackson City Hall at a public auction. The building was appraised at $175,000, and bidding opened with that figure.

Only one other bidder spoke up, inching the figure up by $1,000 at a time. David Warren, director of Environmental Analysis South Inc. in Cape Girardeau, offered $205,000 as his last bid with a note of finality in his voice.

Hartle said New McKendree's members have been eying the old City Hall ever since the first mention of selling it. The two properties join each other on South High Street, and City Hall's parking lot actually is on New McKendree's land.

"We've been very serious about this building from the start," Hartle said. "We will use the building for administrative offices initially, and there's some possibility that we would lease out part of the building."

He handed the city a check worth 10 percent of the building cost to secure the deal.

Mayor Paul Sander said the auction went well -- the city was glad to unload the property for $206,000 and New McKendree paid a fair price for a much needed facility.

City Administrator Steve Wilson, who handled the sale, said the city wouldn't stop trying to find a different building for Environmental Analysis.

"We aren't in the real estate business, but when it comes to business entities looking for a place to locate, we try to get them in Jackson," he said.

City offices recently closed for one day so employees could move everything to the new City Hall on Court Street. The first day of business there was Tuesday, and the Jackson Board of Aldermen defied the snow and ice that night to conduct its first meeting in the new building.

The Jackson Public Library, which stayed behind on South High, will move into the new City Hall's west annex by May 1, allowing New McKendree to take complete possession.