MADAWASKA, Maine — The highest bid for a former Madawaska border crossing has tripled in a month, from $52,050 to $163,000 as of Monday morning.
Auction activity has seen a major spike since November, with a bidding war extending a deadline that was already lengthened due to the recent government shutdown.
The site had 18 bids at this time last month. Now it has 78.
The U.S. General Services Administration, which manages federal property, is conducting the auction. While it is fairly routine for auctions to continue past the originally scheduled closing date, it is rare for the government to auction off former ports of entry, an administration spokesperson told the Bangor Daily News on Monday.
The high bid must remain unchanged for 24 hours in order for the auction to close, the spokesperson said. If another bid is made, then the auction is extended for another day. The auction will continue until there are no bids during a 24-hour window.
Bidders’ identities are not disclosed on the government auction website, but they are assigned ID numbers. The number associated with the highest bid has made 38 of the 78 bids. The second most frequent bidder has made 13 bids. The third most frequent has made 11 bids, and also has the second highest bid at $162,000.
The old port of entry was built in 1959 on 63 Bridge Avenue. It has 5,800 square feet split between its first floor and basement and sits on a 1-acre property.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officially closed the station last year when a new facility opened, along with a new international bridge. The new building is worth roughly $73 million, is equipped with more office and training space and is also designed to be more energy efficient than the previous building.
Federal officials in both the United States and Canada held a grand opening for the new bridge and port of entry last year. The old bridge was more than 100 years old and posted at 5 tons due to its age in 2017.
And while the former border crossing is being auctioned, the old bridge is also going to be repurposed into a massive sculpture. Local artist Dan Cayer earlier this year pitched his plan to the town to create a 20-foot sculpture of a five-pointed star out of the century-old bridge.
The auction is an effort to serve taxpayers by reducing spending through being fiscally responsible with public assets, according to the General Services Administration.
Selling the property will help transform the now unused border facility into an opportunity for community and economic development, Glenn C. Rotondo, Public Buildings Service regional commissioner, said in a release.