(ABC 6 News) – Olmsted County announced that the board of commissioners chose not to accept any development bid for the Seneca Foods site and Ear of Corn water tower.

The Commissioners Board had narrowed down the many bids to two front-runners Tuesday, and made their final choice in a closed session the evening of April 15.

The County Commissioners apparently chose not to pursue either development proposal.

“To both entities that submitted development proposals, we thank you for your interest,” Thein said in the statement.

“Olmsted County does not have any further plans for the property at this time,” according to the statement.

ABC 6 News will update this story when more information is available.

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(ABC 6 News) – It’s a staple of Rochester: the Ear of Corn Water Tower.

It was a feature of the old Seneca factory that was kept around long after the factory shut down. On Tuesday night, Olmsted County is getting ready to discuss what’s next for the site, a discussion that’s been going on for a while now.

“This a very special piece of land. An iconic landmark,” said Jesse O’Driscoll, a resident of Rochester.

The iconic tower was acquired by Olmsted County in 2019 after Seneca announced it was ending operations, and they began accepting offers for the property back in February. With that, the community gave an idea of what they are looking for.

“I don’t think they should be selling it to some corporate developer who’s gonna make whatever commercial enterprise. We’ve got plenty of commercial spaces available in this town. I think instead it would be great for them to use this opportunity to help them solve the housing problem by building a neighborhood,” O’Driscoll said.

The question isn’t just about the land, but the corn tower itself. Olmsted County said they intend to preserve the landmark, but it is up to the new developer as to how. One resident agreed it’s an important part of the city.

“That’s just whenever my dad comes from a different state, we always just take him here, cause it’s just cool, Not everybody has a giant corn tower. That’s just how we know Rochester. That’s just what were known for, other surrounding cities know us for that as well.”

Residents hope their voices can be heard in whatever decision is made by the county.

“We as the citizens should be part of this process, and maybe just wait until we can get this thing figured out,” said O’Driscoll.

Affordable housing wasn’t the only suggestion however, as a go-cart track was another thing that was mentioned to help give the Rochester community a fun activity to participate in at the landmark.