Polo city, Buffalo Township celebrate opening new building

POLO — City of Polo and Buffalo Township officials celebrated the opening of a new joint municipal building Monday evening.

Members of the public joined officials and staff for a 6 p.m. ribboncutting inside the new building, and took the chance to explore the space.

Both municipalities contributed to the cost of the $1.93 million building, which is located at 118 N. Franklin Ave., Polo, about two blocks north of the old city and township halls.

"I think it's fabulous," Buffalo Township Supervisor Phil Fossler said of the new building. "It's a great new building with plenty of room for everybody, and it's evidence of local cooperation between two local entities."

Polo Mayor Doug Knapp agreed.

"It's a long time coming," Knapp said. "It's going to be as big for anything that we're ever going to do. I think the citizens of Polo should be proud of it."

Construction on the new municipal building, which is 4,800 square feet, began in March and took about eight months.

Previously, both the city and township struggled with old, too-small municipal buildings.

The old Buffalo Township Hall was built in 1896, and there were continual upkeep costs, Fossler said. The shared space will save the township a little more than $15,000 per year, he said.

At the old city hall, when the Polo City Council went into closed session, members of the public had to wait outdoors until discussion finished. City staff and officials also had made note of the leaky roof for several years.

Another thing the new joint building offers is off-street parking, which neither of the old buildings had.

City staff and officials moved into 118 N. Franklin Ave. on Oct, 28. Township officials followed Oct. 31.

When asked how the new and old buildings compared, Knapp said, "There's no comparison. It's just really nice."

It's a building that's going to last, Fossler said.

"It's a very well-constructed building and made to last for 100 years," said Darin Stykel, a project manager with the project's engineer, Fehr Graham. "Realistically, we were $30,000 over the budget on a $2 million job, so it was an excellent project. It was very solid."

The extra cost came from having to remove some underground rocks that were unexpected, Stykel said. Other than that, construction went as planned, he said.

Polo city officials have discussed purchasing or building a new city hall since at least 2020.

In 2020 and 2021, they sought to buy the former CedarStone banquet hall at 610 S. Division Ave. However, contracts fell through.

Additionally, many residents expressed a desire for Polo City Hall to remain in the downtown area, and so talks continued. Various plans were considered and discarded before officials finally landed on constructing the new joint municipal building.

"For years, we were doing everything that was below ground — out of sight, out of mind," Polo Alderperson Randy Schoon said. "Finally the citizens get to see where some of their money goes. This is very well deserved. The citizens ought to all be proud of this. It'll be here for a long, long time."