OTTUMWA, IA -- The city council has approved the purchase of the old Alliant Energy building with a vote of 5-0.

Ottumwa City Council has a big-ticket item on its agenda Tuesday evening. The council will be voting on purchasing the old Alliant Energy building at 550 Gateway Dr..

Alliant Energy will now call Industrial Park home with their newly constructed building.

The cost of the old Alliant Energy building would be $236,000.

“If you would go new, it would cost several times that amount. Plus, you’d have cost overruns that are very hard to control. This way it’s already there, it’s functional, you can use it immediately, you don’t have to wait for construction, and the costs are capped,” says Ottumwa City Administrator Joe Helfenberger.

The building and its surrounding land would provide enough storage for all of Ottumwa’s City Departments’ equipment and vehicles.

“Any time you can have all of the departments in one place is good,” says Helfenberger.

Helfenberger is confident that this will pass.