A potential buyer has made an offer to purchase three town-owned buildings in the center of Gray, including historic Stimson Hall.

The Gray Town Council met Monday in a closed-door session called the same day to discuss the possible sale of the former town office, a former post office and Stimson Hall, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and was named by Maine Preservation as one of the state’s most endangered historic places for 2015.

Town Manager Deborah Cabana said the buildings have been for sale since 2008 and started off with an asking price of $450,000. The town is now asking $325,000 for the buildings and the 1.5 acres of land on which they sit.

Cabana said Monday’s meeting was held to discuss a counteroffer made by the potential buyer, whom she would not name.

She said another executive session concerning the sale is scheduled for next Tuesday.

Stimson Memorial Hall was built in 1900 and has been used as an auditorium, public gathering place, town meeting venue and public library.

In 2014, residents voted for the town to dispose of Stimson Hall rather than allocate $500,000 for renovations, even if that meant that a new owner might demolish it. According to a master plan report for the area done in 2011, the other two buildings are “vintage 1960s utilitarian structures that detract from the village’s historic character and quality.”

Cabana would not say what the potential buyer wants to do with the buildings.

Because of the property’s prominent location, she said, the town would like to see development that is “aesthetically and hopefully economically beneficial to the town.”

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