Bids are due next month for potential buyers interested in owning the former National Guard armory buildings in Bradford and Ridgway.
Also for sale is a 15-acre parcel of land and storage buildings on Grant Road in Ridgway Township. It had formerly been used as a National Guard weekend training site.
According to information on the state Department of General Services’ website, the minimum bid for the Ridgway Armory is $88,000; for the training site is $66,000; and for the Bradford Armory is $50,400.
The first bid deadline will be for the Bradford Armory. Bids are due by 3 p.m. Nov. 5. The second is for the training site in Ridgway Township. The bids are due by 3 p.m. Nov. 7. And bids for the Ridgway Armory are due by 3 p.m. Nov. 8
The bids will be opened at those times by the Department of General Services in Harrisburg. All properties will be sold via sealed competitive bid for a price that meets or exceeds the Fair Market Value. The armories may be subject to a 20 percent discount in exchange for accepting historical preservation restrictions.
The properties will be sold to the highest responsible bidder, who must execute an “agreement of sale” with the department within 15 days of the sale, and must submit an eight percent deposit towards the purchase price of the property as well.
“These properties are phase one of one of the largest surplus property packages to be approved in decades,” State Secretary of General Services Sheri Phillips said. “We will be putting additional properties out for bid in the near future.”
Since Gov. Tom Corbett took office in 2011, 41 surplus properties have been sold, bringing in nearly $32 million in non-tax revenue, while shedding more than $5 million in expenses to maintain empty, unnecessary facilities and surrounding land.
The Bradford Armory was constructed circa 1912 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building is approximately 14,800-square-feet. Meanwhile, the Ridgway Armory was constructed circa 1904, and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building is about 16,200-square-feet.
The training site is approximately 15 acres and consists of three or four storage buildings. The primary purpose of the site was a firing range.
