With almost 14,000 sq. ft. and a 4.7 acre property the former Alliant Energy operating department and office on the Tama-Toledo city limits line is being offered for sale by Dirks Real Estate. The building was closed by the utility company in August, 2019, and the workforce shifted to a Marshalltown location. News-Herald photos/John?Speer

The Dirks Real Estate for sale signs have gone up on the former Alliant Energy operating department building and adjoining property. It sits just about squarely on the middle of the Tama and Toledo city limits between South Broadway and North McClellan on the west and South Church and North State streets on the east according to Realtor Dave Dirks.

Dirks says the office area, a portion of the parking and the wooded area to the south are in Tama. The warehouse – garage area, outdoor fenced storage to the northeast and a portion of the parking lot are in Toledo. There’s a total of 13,937 sq. ft. of space on 4.7 acres.

New in 1980, it replaced the operating department headquarters at West High and South County Road (U.S.) 63 in Toledo, now the site of the Toledo Fire Department and Emergency Services.

It was closed on Aug. 19 of last year and the seven employees headquartered here were relocated to Marshalltown.“

Company needs change – needs shift,” Mike Wagner, Alliant Energy spokesperson in Cedar Rapids, told The News-Herald at that time the closing is viewed as a “cost effective way” to serve Alliant customers.”

A stand of trees is part of the property on the south.

The location was the Iowa Electric Light and Railway Company power plant in earlier times. Some of the property was also the site of the annual Chautauqua in the early part of the 20th century and tales of riding the street car to the event were often recounted.

Today a ball filed at Tama’s Oak Park forms the southern border.

For its future use Dirks says a sale would likely be for commercial or light industrial use.T t would be contingent on approval of both Tama and Toledo city councils, he said. The substation on the property would be subject to an easement.

The price? $299,900.