City buying Loen Electric building for new police headquarters

Benson’s Police Department will be getting a new home with the city council’s unanimous vote Monday night to purchase the Loen Electric building in the southwest corner of the city for $199,500.
While the purchase is effective Feb. 28 the city won’t be taking possession of the building until July 1.
Loen Electric will be moving its operations into a building on the south side of U.S. Highway 12 west. It is between the Swift County Development Achievement Center and the Historical Museum. It plans to do extensive remodeling of the new building prior to moving in.
In the coming months, the City of Benson will be developing a scope of work with architectural plans for converting the Loen building into its police headquarters.
Council Member Jack Evenson made the motion for the purchase with a second by Lucas Olson. Council Members Stephanie Heinzig and Terri Hawley joined Evenson and Olson, as well as Mayor Gary Landmark, in approving the purchase.
Benson’s police department has been looking to get out of its current space in the basement of city hall as quickly as a new home could be found. However, the council has spent months studying the options of building a new city hall that includes the police department, renovating the Armory building for a police department, and buying the Loen building....
 
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