A building that has been located near a major intersection in Salina since 1955 has been renovated and revitalized.

The former Zeller Brake Building, located at 662 S. Broadway near the intersection of Crawford and Broadway, has been renovated. It has a new look and a new tenant. Village Tours recently completed the purchase and remodel of the building.

According to Village Tours, purchase of the building was done directly between their ownership and the Jerry Girard Family. Renovations of almost $200,000 were completed by Ponton Construction of Salina.

Village Tours is a motor coach tour and charter company headquartered in Wichit. It includes a fleet of 70 motor coaches with 200 employees located in Wichita, Salina, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The company offers a wide-variety of vacation packages and charter bus service for groups such as schools, the military and area businesses. KSAL Radio bus trips utilize Village Tours.

Village Tours entered the Salina market through the acquisition of Salina Charter Coach in 2011. The operation was located at the former Salina Charter Coach facility located on Ninth Street until the recent move on June 1st.

The Salina facility is primarily used as a maintenance facility for the fleet stationed in town. There are currently twelve people employed in the Salina area, and ownership is optimistic about some growth.

“We are very pleased with how the new facility has turned out. It’s such a nice place to maintain our coaches, and I think it shows our commitment to the Salina area. Business has grown the last few years and we hope to add a mechanic, more drivers and another coach to the location in the next year,” according to Jeff Arensdorf, President of Village Tours.

Since Village Tours is only occupying the rear of the building, they have contracted with Jeff Maes of Compro Realty to find a suitable tenant for the front portion of the building.

The former Zeller Brake Building, located at 662 S. Broadway near the intersection of Crawford and Broadway, was renovated.