The Antigonish Co. courthouse on Main St. is going up for sale.
Councillors approved a motion to issue a request for proposals for the sale of the building at March’s regular municipal council meeting Tuesday night.
After Tuesday night’s meeting, Hughie Stewart, Antigonish Co.’s deputy warden, said the building is still home to Nova Scotia Supreme Court matters in the Antigonish area, so the new owner would already have a tenant if they’re interested.
“The courthouse is still rented to the province, and the province understands where we are with it, so we’re hoping that it’ll all work out,” he said. “I’m sure we will have some interest.”
The RFP includes a restriction on the demolition of the building, or significant alteration to the exterior facade or the building’s footprint.
Stewart said the interior needs a facelift, but they want to make sure the structure itself doesn’t change.
“We would like to see it remain in the same structure as it is now,” he said. “The inside could be probably dealt with, but we’d like to keep the outside (the same)- that’s one of the commitments we’d ask whoever’s interested in buying it, to make sure that the heritage building stays and looks the same.”
Stewart said they’ve been dealing with issues with the courthouse for some time, and they had a lot of work done to the building.
The old county jail, which is connected to the courthouse but is a separate property, was sold to Big House Rentals in 2016.
