Salem City Manager Rex Barbee got a positive response from the city council Monday night to allow Mission Salem to utilize the former Save-a-Lot building on West Main Street until the city is ready to move forward in converting it to the new police station.
Barbee said he had been contacted by representatives of Mission Salem after they learned they would be losing the building where much of their prep work for building projects was being completed.
“I think that Mission Salem is a very worth wild organization serving Salem and the surrounding communities and this gives us an opportunity for us to assist them with space that is not currently being utilized for anything. We are already paying the utility bills for the building. They are not anticipating they will have a lot of increased utility cost. It gives them a very high visibility as far as the building goes. They could put some signage in the front window saying currently used by Mission Salem.”
Barbee also sees a benefit to the city of having the building occupied instead of remaining vacant.
Barbee expects it will be two to three years before the city is ready to move forward with the move of the police station. He hopes to build the project into a reissuance of bonds once the Salem Aquatic Center is paid off. Barbee says voter approval will be required to continue the half-cent sales tax for other purposes.
