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Milton debates buying former bank building

MILTON — The city of Milton has added another property to the list of real estate it is eyeballing for potential purchase.

After a closed session discussion Tuesday, the city council gave the OK to seek an appraisal of the former Milton Savings Bank building at 110 Parkview Drive.

The building has been owned and occupied by The Bank of Milton since last fall, when it merged with Milton Savings Bank.

The Bank of Milton operates another branch farther south on Parkview Drive. The bank plans to end operations at 110 Parkview Drive in the coming months, City Administrator Jerry Schuetz said Tuesday.

He said the city has been in talks with the bank about buying the building, which was built in the mid-1970s.

The city is currently negotiating the purchase of the former Dean medical building at 710 S. Janesville St., where it could relocate the Milton Police Department.

During the last two weeks, the city also began eyeing the bank property as a potential fit for its police station, which is now located just next door, Schuetz said.

Schuetz said the city has since learned the bank property would not be "structurally suitable" for a police station, in part because police radios do not get reception throughout the building.

Schuetz said the city is interested in potentially buying the building for another possible purpose—to develop an "economic anchor" for future retail in Goodrich Park.

The city already owns the Community House and the current Milton Police Department property, both of which are located along Parkview Drive, near the former Milton Savings Bank along Parkview Drive.

If the city bought the bank property, it would have a controlling interest in real estate on Parkview Drive in the northern portion of Goodrich Park.

"With future development planned in Goodrich Square, it might be an opportune time to at least evaluate a potential purchase of the building," Schuetz said.

Schuetz said that the city could later sell the property to someone interested in developing a retail business there.

"We wouldn't want to hold properties to hold them," Schuetz said.

The council discussed a potential offer to purchase the former Dean property in closed session Tuesday but did not move on that deal.