Elysian City offices have new home

 Published July 27, 2006    

 The Elysian Enterprise

 by Jay Schneider, Editor LIFE/Enterprise

ELYSIAN - The City of Elysian continues to make improvements to its community. Saturday morning was the Elysian City Offices Open House, which was attended by many local  residents.

     The city recently moved from their previous spot in the Elysian Mini Mall into the building which formerly housed the Pizza Palace.

     The city hall is much more user friendly to the public and is just another thing which the community has to be proud of.

     Elysian Mayor Mack Evans talked to the dozen in attendance for the ribbon cutting about where the city has come in the last 15 years.

     "As we dedicate this new City Hall, I want to take a moment and reflect on the progress this little town has made," Evans said. "We're the only small town to have 123 flags waving along the highway as people drive by. Those are there dedicated to the memory of people from this community who have served."

     "We've done a lot here to make Elysian a good place to live," Evans added. "We've paved the streets in 1993. We've got a recreation area down by the lake."

     Evans said he was in Elysian in 1993 having breakfast with a friend and he told him, "You know what? This is going to be a real nice little town someday."

     "I'm glad I paid attention to that. He was right and I'm glad to be here and be part of the things this town is doing," Evans said. "It's all based on pride, the things that go on here. What you're really seeing here is the pride that this community has."

     The Elysian Economic Development Authority (EDA) offered a purchase agreement in December to buy the building which was owned by Dale and Phyllis Arndt in the amount of $240,000.

     The purchase is being financed through a leased purchase agreement over a 15-year period of time. For taxpayers of Elysian, this means that for each year of the 15 year period, there will be a levy to pay the debt service.

     Since 1987, the city has leased space for city offices, paying more that $150,000 in rent over the course of 18 years.

     Evans said now the city will have something to show for their money.

     "This new city hall is an investment we're making in this town," Evans said. "We've made other ones too like the fire hall down the street which we'll have paid off in a few years. These things are made possible by the EDA. The EDA built the fire hall and the EDA built this new city hall."

     "City hall is the focal point of many things in town," Pat Nusbaum, City Administrator said. "With the growth we're seeing in Elysian, city hall must grow too. We think this new Main Street location will serve the community well."

     "When I was on the council in Rochester, we did a lot of things. We took the cupola off the city building, we built the skyways," Evans said. "My friends from there ask me if Elysian's going to build skyways next. I tell them 'No' but we are the only city council chambers in the state of Minnesota that has a fireplace."

Reprinted with permission

For photos of the City Hall Dedication, click here.