Sioux Falls, SD (KELO-AM) With a shiny orange BNSF locomotive as a back drop, the $27 million rail yard deal was signed in downtown Sioux Falls on Monday.
Mayor Mike Huether signed for the city and Executive Vice President Roger Norber signed the purchase agreement for BNSF.
Mayor Huether says the bi-partisan effort over ten years is a case study for America on how government and business can get things done. He says Sioux Falls will eventually build a place to live, work and play on the 10 acres "beyond our imagination."
Senator John Thune (R) and Retired Senator Tim Johnson (D) talked about working together, starting back in 2005, to help secure the federal money to pay for the land.
Norber joked that BNSF has thousands of locomotives, but the one behind him is the "absolute cleanest" because rail workers spent four days cleaning it by hand to get it ready for the ceremony.
The prime ten acres will turn over to the city in two years.