Iowa Telecom and Des Moines Area Community College would take over several former Maytag buildings while others would be demolished, according to a proposed redevelopment plan released Thursday.

The plan calls for Newton-based Iowa Telecom to pay $1.5 million for all but two former Maytag buildings for use as office space or transferred to a third party. Two buildings, just north of DMACC's Newton campus, would be turned over to the college for vocational training. Two other buildings would be demolished by the city and turned into green space.

Whirlpool Corp. bought Maytag in March and announced that all of Maytag's Newton operations would be closed, eliminating 1,800 jobs by the end of 2007. But the future of the former Maytag buildings has remained in question.

Under the proposed plan, the city would agree to repair some buildings, reroute utilities, clean up equipment and demolish the old research and development buildings if new tenants can't be found in a year.

City Administrator David Watson said there is still disagreement over whether those buildings should be demolished.
"But the additional reprieve from immediate demo is better than originally requested," he said in a report to the City Council, which was to discuss the plan Thursday.

On Monday, the council approved an application for about $3.5 million in state grant money to fund the project. The Iowa Department of Economic Development Board deferred action on the application Thursday.

Other funding for the project would include $200,000 from the Jasper County Economic Development Corp.; $1.3 million from Whirlpool and Maytag Foundations; and $700,000 from the city. The city would create a special fund to manage money related to the project.

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