The building that formerly housed the Pennsylvania Army National Guard armory in Bradford is in the process of being bought by a New York state firm.
Schenne & Associates’ owner John Schenne said he hopes to close on the sale within the next two months and start using the 38 Barbour St. building as soon as the sale is final. He will use the building to open a second location for the firm, and will maintain both the Bradford location and the firm’s current location in Buffalo, N.Y.
The Pennsylvania Department of General Services received two bids at the Nov. 5 bid opening, said Troy Thompson, press secretary with the department. He said Schenne’s bid was for $60,001.
Schenne said he did enter into a historic preservation covenant, which stipulates that he preserve the building’s exterior in exchange for financial incentives. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
For the Nov. 5 bid opening, the Department of General Services was only seeking bids from potential buyers who were willing to enter into the covenant, officials from the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs had indicated. However, if no buyers had stepped forward, bidding would have been opened up to all interested buyers, not just those willing to enter into the covenant.
He also wants to restore the inside of the building to reflect how it looked when it was first built in 1912.
“It’s a cool building. It’s one of the nicest ones in the whole city,” said Schenne.
According to Schenne, the firm consists of “a couple of architects and a couple of engineers.”
A fact sheet about the property from the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs indicates the sale was for a 14,800-square-foot building on about 0.3 acres of land. The building holds a drill hall, administrative space, classrooms, a kitchen and storage areas.
The building ceased to be used as the armory when the unit moved to the Bradford Readiness Center at Bradford Regional Airport a few years ago.
While the Bradford armory sale experienced closure, the same can’t be said for a similar armory building in Ridgway.
For that site, the Department of General Services is accepting a second round of bids for its purchase. Officials said no bids were received the first time around. A second round of bids began on Nov. 26, 2013 and the next bid opening will be held at 3 p.m. March 20 in Harrisburg.
The roughly 0.23-acre property is located at 72 N. Broad St. Officials said the 16,200-square-foot building contains a drill hall, administrative space, classrooms, a kitchen and storage areas.
