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Bids open, due Thursday for City Hall sale

By Mark Maroney 2 min read

Solicited bids on a possible purchase of Williamsport City Hall will be due by noon on Thursday. The bids will not be shared with the public at the city council meeting Thursday night.

"I'm certainly interested in seeing what is received, both in monetary value but also what is planned to be done with the building by the bidder," Council President Adam Yoder said. Mayor Derek Slaughter noted previously several interested parties toured the facility, which was appraised.

Tiffany Cioffi of Fish Commercial Group has been working on behalf of the city on the real estate end of the property at 245 W. Fourth St.

The administration installed an accessible ramp, a requirement of consent decree approved in the U.S. Middle District Court to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

Damage, however, caused by a faulty roof in July 2021 led to the building being condemned by the Bureau of Codes. That December, a coil in the air handler for the heating system broke, spilling boiling water throughout several floors.

As part of the consent decree, the city hired Mark Derry, a building-accessibility expert, who looked at all of the city-owned buildings, not just City Hall, but determined City Hall needs "significant work."

Former city engineer Jon Sander placed the estimate for repairing City Hall at about $6 million.

The building was constructed in 1893 and is on the National Registry of Historic Places.

To hear more about the bids, the council meets in-person and by remote at Trade and Transit Centre II, third floor.

Starting at /week.