Happy day in Scott City

The long, low building in Scott City first housed Wetterau Inc.'s food distribution center in the early 1960s. A few years after merging with Wetterau in the mid-1990s, wholesale food distribution giant Supervalu moved its operations from Scott City to St. Louis, leaving the 260,000-square-foot building empty and in some ways a symbol of Scott City's unused potential.

But the building's proximity to I-55, to the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport and to the Southeast Missouri Port Authority on the Mississippi River made it ideal for a trucking company. Last week, one of them made Scott City happy.

The building's soon-to-be owner is Buchheit Truck Services Inc., which operates nearly 80 trucks throughout the United States and Canada. Buchheit also owns farm and home centers in Illinois and Missouri, including stores in Jackson and Perryville.

Cape Girardeau real estate agent Tom Kelsey of Lorimont Place Ltd. orchestrated the deal between Buchheit and Supervalu Holding Inc. of Minneapolis. The property, which includes the building and 52 acres of land, was listed at $3.75 million.

The building has 10,000 square feet of office space, 41 loading docks and a truck repair shop. The Buchheit family probably will move its trucking company to the location and lease the rest of the warehouse. Two other companies are negotiating to lease parts of the building.

Scott City, no longer primarily a railroad town, needs an infusion of new businesses. Welcome, Buchheits.