ON THE AUCTION BLOCK — The former Wellsburg Middle School, now occupied by Brooke County Schools’ alternative learning center and the Wellsburg Police Department, is set to go up for bid in a public auction to be held at 4 p.m. Aug. 11. -- Warren Scott

WELLSBURG — The former Wellsburg Middle School building will go on the auction block at 4 p.m. Aug. 4.

The Brooke County Board of Education has advertised the sale of the three-story building at 1447 Main St. and about 70,828 square feet on and around it through a public auction to be held at 4 p.m. on that date at the school.

The Brooke County Board of Education, which has set a minimum bid at $250,000, may consider offers for the property at its Aug. 11 meeting.

It may reject any bid, regardless of the amount, under state school policy.

Overlooking the Ohio River, the property includes a separate, smaller building once used for practice by the school’s marching band and football field on which the Brooke High School Bruins played for many years.

Built in 1927, it served as Wellsburg High School until it and the former Follansbee High School and Bethany High School were consolidated into Brooke High School in 1969.

Repurposed as a middle school serving students in grades 5-8, it was consolidated with Follansbee Middle School following the construction of Brooke Middle School in 2018.

It was among five schools that were closed in 2017 and eyed for sale by school officials but instead became home to the school district’s alternative learning center.

The center offers an alternative approach to students found not adaptive to a traditional school setting.

In the event the school building is sold, there are plans to relocate the ALC to Brooke High School, where it has operated in the past.

Pending the property’s sale, the Brooke County school board recently accepted four bids for renovations to an area of the high school to accommodate the ALC.

Totaling about $161,315, the work will include dividing existing rooms to serve as classrooms and installing a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning unit and computer connections to serve the center.

The contractors and vendors involved are: Lombardi Development of Follansbee, Schenerlein and Sligar Inc. of Steubenville, CSI Comfort Supply of Pittsburgh and Mountain State Cabling Solutions Inc. of Charleston.

In recent years, the school also became home to the Wellsburg Police Department.

It’s unclear whether the department may remain there following a sale.