PHOTOS: Benton County Jail demolished

Posted on Oct 12, 2009 by Angie Holmes.

The Benton County Law Enforcement Center in Vinton is demolished Monday. (Angela Holmes/The Gazette)

The walls of the Benton County Law Enforcement Center came tumbling down Monday as demolition continues of the building damaged in the Flood of 2008.

Last week D.W. Zinser Co. of Walford began removing limestone from the building’s exterior. The demolition contract includes saving 80 percent of the limestone.

Benton County Board of Supervisors Chairman Dave Vermedahl said the limestone will be used in the retaining wall of the new facility to be built at the same location on the corner of Second Avenue and Third Street.

The demolition process, which includes tearing down the building, removing debris and placing fill material, should be done by mid-November.

The board has approved design drawings for the new center and hopes to have bidding out by the end of the year, Vermedahl said. The building, to be elevated 44 inches, will house a 32-bed jail, a 911 dispatch center, and offices for the sheriff, deputies and investigative staff.

Benton County received $5.83 million from the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency in Iowa to replace the center which was deemed uninhabitable.

“There was a lot of community support for putting it back there,” Vermedahl said. “I’m glad to see it (the process) moving along.”

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