COLFAX — A Colfax landmark, which is in need of improvements, went on the real estate market Saturday for the first time since owner Jerome “Jerry” Clouse purchased the property in 2009.
The former Monroe Table & Chair Company complex and all its contents went up for auction Saturday, drawing nearly 100 buyers and spectators to the property at 316 N. Walnut St.
The 65,000 square foot building and land did not have a bidder, but Clouse told the Newton Daily News on Sunday the property is still up for sale.
Auctioneers Joel Pike and Jeremy Yates of Joel Pike Auctions stood on a flat bed trailer Saturday morning in the building’s southern loading bay and auctioned everything from 50 antique wooden carts and left-over table and chairs to milling machines and fork lifts. Clouse said the majority of the building’s contents did sell, despite having no takers on the property.
The building was purchased by Clouse in 2009 from the Monroe family and Monroe Manufacturing, LLC. Shortly after he purchased the building it was stricken by flood waters in 2010, along with much of the city’s west-end neighborhood and portions of the downtown area. The building was also hit by the flood of 1993.
An adjacent building on the property still houses Crozier Welding, which recently changed from Colfax Welding. Clouse, who lives in Forest City, said the business is still in operation despite the auction. Clouse originally hired Kurt Crozier, a former Monroe Table employee to run the welding business several years and he’s since taken over the business.
According the Jasper County Assessor’s website, the total property value was appraised at $177,290 in 2015 — this included a $26,660 land value and $150,630 of improvement value.
Monroe Table & Chair closed its doors in 2007. At peak production, the manufacture employed more than 80 people in Colfax. The business had a long history in Jasper County. It first opened in 1908 and was originally located across the street. It was named the Close to Nature Company in its early years, manufacturing things like chicken incubators. The business moved into the Monroe Table building in the mid-1920s after a tractor manufacturer, which built the first warehouse/shop on the site, stopped producing.
The company transitioned to making primarily folding tables and chairs in the 1930s and expanded the building several times. The last documented expansion is listed in 1974 when a raw metal shop was added.
Former general manager Bill Colville attended Saturday’s auction. He worked for the company from 1995 through its final year. While registering for an auction number inside the complex on Saturday, he said the building sits on roughly four acres of land. Railroad spur access runs on the southern end of the property and is touted as one of the properties more unique attributes. This could give a business easy access to transport goods.
“I’m just here to help them today because they don’t know what everything is,” Colville said. “Along with the equipment, it’s essentially leftover inventory.”
Colfax Mayor David Mast led city hall during the 2010 flood and is trying to draw new business opportunities to downtown Colfax. He said Friday the city welcomes the sale.
“It’s been empty for six years and it’s time for something to happen,” he said. “We look forward to having anyone do something with it. Any improvement would be a positive.”
Contact Mike Mendenhall at mmendenhall@newtondailynews.com