BANGOR, Maine — Just days after the Hammond Street Senior Center shut down operations to reduce costs, officials announced Monday they have sold the historic structure.
With the sale of the building at 2 Hammond St., Executive Director Kathy Bernier said she is hopeful they will have enough capital to re-open in a new location sometime in the summer of 2016, but she is planning a fundraising campaign in the meantime.
In an email to its members, the senior center announced late Monday afternoon that the building was sold to a company called 127 Franklin St. LLC. That company is affiliated with DES Properties LLC, where an official declined to discuss their plans for the building on Monday.
Based in Bangor, DES manages several multi-unit residential properties and some commercial properties.
Bernier would not disclose the building’s sale price but said she expects the center to have about $150,000 in its coffers after paying for utilities, taxes, a real estate commission and other bills.
None of those bills are particularly large or past due, she said.
Bernier confirmed they did not get their asking price of $750,000 for the building. The city’s assessing department valued the property at $574,800 for fiscal 2016.
The projected capital of $150,000 is not enough to restart the senior center. Bernier said she will be relocating to an office at 81 Main St. where she will oversee a fundraising campaign, seeking grant funding and donations from residents, communities across the region and local businesses.
Bernier hopes to raise between $200,000 and $250,000 to re-start the center. In the wake of the closure, she said more people may be willing to donate than in previous fundraising attempts.
“I think they were a little shocked that we actually did have to close,” she said.
In an Oct. 7 email announcing the planned closure to the center’s roughly 500 active members, Bernier said the center was “prepared to move forward with relocation plans immediately upon the sale of our building.”
The future home of the senior center remains unclear. Bernier said they are still considering a few locations. They are seeking a leased location on a bus route and would prefer a facility with shared expenses such as the Airport Mall.
Some of the center’s furnishings and other interior items will be sent to a storage facility on Nov. 10 for use when the center re-opens.The rest will be sold in a public tag sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 19 and 20.
Money from the sale will go toward the fundraising campaign.
The senior center was founded in 1999 by John and Elaine Couri of Ridgefield, Connecticut. They operated it through their charitable foundation known as the Couri Foundation, investing more than $3 million to improve the facility.
In 2013, they transferred ownership of the 2 Hammond St. property and all of its assets to Hammond Street Senior Center Inc., a newly established and locally controlled nonprofit.
Tax records show the center’s income fell dramatically between 2011 and 2013 — the latest year available — plunging 29 percent from $504,964 to $360,039. During that time period, charitable contributions fell 41 percent from $395,004 to $233,525.
The senior center providers a range of services to individuals 55 and over. Its programs include continuing education, fitness, socialization, arts and crafts and special events, according to center officials.
By relocating to a less expensive facility, Bernier said they hope to dedicate more funding to programming.
Follow Evan Belanger on Twitter at @evanbelanger.