MARINETTE — The city of Marinette has made an offer on the National Guard Armory.
Mayor Steve Genisot said the Common Council discussed the matter in closed session last Tuesday. It decided to make an offer of $400,000.
The armory property, 2000 Mary St., has an asking price of a little more than $500,000. Genisot has publicly stated he believes that the price is too high. In contrast, the former Garfield Elementary School is listed for just under $300,000. The city is not interested in that property.
The armory property, currently zoned institutional, is not listed with a real estate company. Genisot explained the process with that building.
“The municipality or government in the area gets first choice (when an armory is closed),” he said. “If they can’t come to an agreement, then it goes to an auction or to a broker.”
A person answering the phone at the armory said the location “technically isn’t closed” yet as offices are being used. He said the Delta Company 2nd Battalion, 127 Infantry Regiment, conducted its last drill at that location in November. He also said a few armories around the state have closed recently or will close.
Genisot said the city used two of those armories for comparables. He said one was on the market for a year before it finally went to an auction. He said one of those buildings was turned into housing and the other for some type of recreational use.
“We must follow the process and see if they accept our number,” he said.
The city is looking to relocate both the City Hall and the Police Department, 1905 Hall Ave. Whether they are moved to the same new location remains to be seen.
Genisot said if the city acquires the armory, it would be a police/judicial center. That building has just under 19,000 square feet, while the current City Hall has approximately 30,000 square feet.
“The biggest factor is the police department is out of space,” Genisot said. “Anywhere we go, we’re going to have to build a garage for them.”
Genisot said constructing a new City Hall at the armory property would be too expensive. He said waiting to build until interest rates come down is also a possibility.
He added that keeping the current City Hall in place if the police department moves is not an option.
“We’re looking to move both,” Genisot said. “We have a potential interested party to repurpose City Hall.”
Besides a police department, the city also needs storage space. A garage on Ely Street was recently demolished (paid for by grant money) to make way for a parking lot. That was used for the Department of Public Works storage, along with impounded vehicles and other police equipment. Those items have been dispersed to other locations, the mayor said.
The new and improved parking lot will have 71 spots. Genisot said the goal is to rent that lot. “If we get $40,000 to $50,000 a year, we would pay off the armory fairly soon,” he said.
He said the city is still “in the conversation” regarding the UW-Green Bay, Marinette Campus location.
“We’re keeping all options on the table,” he said.
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