County declares Central Hall surplus property, will be sold by realtor

Photo by Tom Rivers: The Central Hall building at 34 East Park St. will soon be listed for sale by Woodroe Realty at a price is to be determined. The building is now vacant after the county historian’s office was moved to a spot next to Subway.

ALBION – The county will soon be putting a historic building in Courthouse Square up for sale. The County Legislature on Tuesday authorized Woodroe Realty to the list Central Hall for sale.

Woodroe was among six real estate businesses to submit proposals to the county for selling the building. Woodroe is accepting the smallest seller’s concession fee at 2 percent of the sales price.

The Legislature on Dec. 3, 2025 announced the county historian’s office and the Department of History’s artifacts would be moving to 2,000 square feet of space on the side of a plaza next to Subway.

The county’s Buildings and Grounds staff through the Department of Public Works has completed the move and renovations to the spot next to Subway.

Now that Central hall has been entirely vacated, the County legislature has declared the building as surplus and authorized it to be put up for sale.

The building used to include the County Treasurer’s Office but the treasurer moved to the former Bank of America site at 156 South Main St. in 2024. That is next to Subway.

The historian was working out of the top floor of Central Hall. County officials said the change to the site by Subway is a cost-cutting move that could save $90,000 to $110,000 a year in maintenance and other expenses once the building is sold.

The change also will make the historian’s office more accessible to the public, county officials said. The space is on the first floor and people won’t need to climb stairs to access the building.

Central Hall, a solid red-brick building, was a school from 1882 to 1934, and then was used as the post for the American Legion until the site was bought by the county in 1980.

The county has owned Central Hall the past 46 years. It was used by the treasurer until September 2024 and also previously was the offices for the Probation Department.

The county doesn’t have to pay a lease for the space for the historian’s office. The county approved the five-year agreement where it pays for the cost of utilities and to renovate the site.

The county also will plow the parking lot in the winter. The county already was plowing out the treasurer’s office and some of the spots in the lot that are used for the treasurer’s office.

The Legislature approved the lease with Nomax Albion, LLC, which is owned by Noah Michaels. He reached out to the county about leasing the space in exchange for plowing the parking lot for the plaza.