The City of New Cumberland must go back to the drawing board on the sale of the old New Cumberland School it had purchased for use as a municipal building. Council had contracted with Kaufman Realty to do an online auction for the property. The property was advertised for 30 days with the online auction set for October 17. No bids meeting the $150,000 minimum bid were received. City Clerk Tammy Jenkins said that the City had two interested parties do a walk through on the property on October 10. The online auction did not allow those watching to see what bids were being made and by whom.

Jenkins said Council will discuss their next steps with the building at a work session slated for next week. The building currently has two tennants, the Family Court, and the WVU Extension Office. The gymnasium/multipurpose room at one time had been used for youth basketball, meetings and rented out for events. A leaky roof, problem with the boiler and air conditioner had, however, made that impossible in recent years. Compounding any issues with the building are parking issues with very little space on property and its proximity to the Courthouse.

Work on the new city building, located on River Avenue in what used to be a storage building for Benny Phillips and prior to that the Yaught Club, is progressing according to project coordinator Patrick Arneault. He said the shingles for the new roof are going on and the inner demolition has been. Next on the agenda will be the framing, insulation, electrical and plumbling. The windows have been taken out and the building is ready for the installation of the new windows, Officials are hoping to be able to move into the new building by the beginning of the new year.