Luverne City Hall is preparing to move operations from its current location at 22 East 5th Street after approving a lease last year. 

The new location will be 866 Glenwood Road, the former site of the Lurleen B. Wallace Community College (LBW) Luverne campus. Luverne Mayor Ed Beasley said the city has outgrown its current building, with three staff members working in a 12×10 office. 

“We’ve outgrown this site here; the [staff] are having to carry files up and down stairs… ” Beasley said. “We’re cramped for space.” 

According to Beasley, Brock Kelley, LBW president, reached out to the mayor to discuss a potential lease on the building after the community college made the decision to relocate the campus to a different location. After Beasley and Kelley negotiated a lease acceptable to both parties, the Luverne City Council unanimously approved the 10-year lease during their March 25, 2024 meeting. 

The lease, set at $1 per year, is renewable and provides the potential for long-term city space. 

“It is an upgrade for the building, the technology and the space,” said District 3 Councilperson Kathy Smyth. “I think it will be absolutely beneficial, however change doesn’t come easy. This [current] location has been here for so long and it’s convenient in the downtown area… It is an aging building [however], and this [move] provides a wonderful opportunity for us.”

Now, city officials are working to get everything set for the move, and have been working on the move for the past five months. As of right now, there is no date set for the official transfer. 

Other facilities are moving with city offices, including electric, water and street and sanitation departments. The police department will not be moving from its current site at 64 West 6th Street. 

“[The new location] will be a great benefit, especially to our handicapped citizens, because it’s wheelchair friendly [and] we will have anything [we’ll] need for disabled citizens to come in and out,” Beasley said. “The new facility is [also] a larger facility and more updated. It allows for the city to grow.”

Once the move is completed, any payments made to the City of Luverne or for electric, water and street and sanitation departments will be made at the new location, 886 Glenwood Road.