By Tammy R. Lawson

Distribution Center would mean new hires; Company may relocate Park JBS/Swift & Company, one of the country’s most successful pork processing plants, is proposing future construction of a multi-million dollar Midwest Distribution Center at its facilities in Marshalltown.

According to General Manager Troy Mulgrew, the refrigeration warehouse would range up to 150,000 square feet and enlist several employment positions, although he would not speculate on a sound number due to the amount of automation that would be utilized within the new processes.

“We don’t know what the job [count] will look like but it’s not going to get smaller,” Mulgrew told the Marshalltown City Council on Monday. “We’re hoping to take the Swift plant into the future for a good many years.”

But in order for this project to go forward at its site, the company would need to acquire additional property to the south of the plant, known as the Margaret T. French Playground & Park, located at the corner of Bromley and Ninth Streets.

Mulgrew cited another plant location was also being considered for the expansion but it doesn’t permit Swift to construct an adequate structural size, nor does it allow rail access.

The company has offered to move and replace the recreational facilities to other locations identified by the city and the Parks & Recreation Department, with the exception of a softball diamond located within the playground – one of three in Marshalltown.

Parks & Recreation Director Terry Gray said there have been discussions of where some of French Park’s equipment could possibly be moved, including into Riverview Park.

“We have some options, but not a lot,” she said. “The other parks in the vicinity are very small so they couldn’t really accommodate some of the amenities.”

In addition, there would be a need to vacate portions of nearby streets for rezoning some of the property used during expansion, Mulgrew added. There would also be a rise in truck and rail traffic going to and from the facility.

Housing & Community Development Director Michelle Spohnheimer confirmed a rezoning request was submitted for review last week and a public hearing will take place on Oct. 15 with the Planning & Zoning Commission.

City Administrator Dick Hierstein said the proposal would require a number of public hearings, therefore individual letters would be sent to adjacent homeowners as well.

If the building isn’t constructed by the end of 2011, French Park would revert back to city based upon a reversion clause, Hierstein added.