Linn County hopes to sell downtown Witwer Building by year's end

CEDAR RAPIDS – Linda Langston, chairwoman of the Linn County Board of Supervisors, said this week that the county hoped to sell its flood-damaged Witwer Building in downtown Cedar Rapids by the end of the year.

At one point, a developer was looking at the site for a boutique hotel, Langston said, but she said she suspected a developer now would buy it for offices.

Before the June 2008 flood, the building housed both county offices, which are moving to the county's new community services building off Wilson Avenue SW, and the Witwer Senior Center.

The senior center is currently located at 605 Second Ave. SE.

The future of the Witwer Building came up at a joint meeting this week of Cedar Rapids City Council members and county supervisors.

City Council member Justin Shields asked about the senior center because there had been some hope that the senior center would one day move into the proposed Multigenerational Life Center, a community center and recreational center that one day might go up at Ellis Park. Its price tag has been put at $60 million to $80 million. Shields was lamenting the funding issues related to the Multigenerational facility, and Langston said she thought the senior center was looking at other options.

Langston said the Witwer building is completely mucked out and ready for renovation.

She said the county values the building at $450,000. It sustained $1.2 million in damage, Supervisor Jim Houser added.