It’s still empty, but that may be changing and changing quickly.

In the space of a few months in the second half of 2016, the city government acquired the building at 908 First Ave. S. and lined up a developer to renovate it. Precise plans for the building’s future are still being crafted, but it may become the site of apartments, shops, a recreation and fitness center and a performing arts theater.

Some work, such as the removal of asbestos from the building, could begin this spring.

”We have a good track on turning that Warden into the jewel of our downtown,” Councilman Andy Fritz said.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Rachel Rosenboom, of Pomeroy, uses her flashlight to find her way up one of the staircases inside the Warden Plaza during a Fort Dodge Area Camera Club photo safari. The only light in the building is what comes in through the windows and what’s provided with a flashlight.

KDG LLC of Columbia, Missouri, took ownership of the building in December. It has entered into a preliminary memorandum of understanding with the city government in which it will invest $30 million in the building.

”We’re really excited about the project,” said Kevin Kearns, managing member of KDG LLC. ”We’re lining up the players right now.”

Kearns said his firm has the experience to tackle the Warden Plaza project.

He said the firm has been in business since 2004 and has completed $160 million worth of development.

The Stadium 63 development in Columbia, Missouri, is probably the company’s biggest and most complex effort. Kearns said it consists of multiple buildings on 74 acres at the intersection of Stadium Drive and Highway 63. It includes 300 apartments, three restaurants, a hotel and a furniture store.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Tedra Towne, of Boone, sets up her camera on a tripod to record a time exposure inside the Warden Plaza during a Fort Dodge Area Camera Club photo safari to the abandoned hotel in downtown Fort Dodge.

The Warden Plaza is named after its original owner, Theodore Warden, who was an Ohio coal mine investor. The first four floors were built in 1914. Another three floors were added two years later. Construction was finished off with the addition of a penthouse in 1925.

It was originally a hotel and apartment building. It also housed shops and offices. In the late 1970s it became an apartment building for low income residents. The last residents and businesses moved out about 10 years ago due to mounting maintenance issues.

Before the city government took it over, the building was owned by Coralee LLC, of Oakland, California.

In March 2016, the city filed a petition in Webster County District Court seeking to take over the building under the terms of the state’s abandoned buildings law. That effort was successful and the city took over the property in July 2016.

The next month, the City Council approved the preliminary memorandum of understanding with KDG LLC.

In September 2016, the council hired ATC Group Services LLC, of Des Moines, to check the building for asbestos and lead paint. Removal of that material may begin this spring, and will likely be the first work to be done in the building.

In December 2016, the City Council handed the property over to KDG LLC.

That firm is pursuing federal and state historic tax credits to help finance the project. The federal historic tax credits are worth up to 20 percent of the company’s investment in the building, while the state ones are worth up to25 percent of the investment.

The city government, the developer, the committee planning a new recreation center and the Fort Dodge Fine Arts Association will all have a role in deciding what will be in the renovated building.