No bids for nursing home

Published 9:41 pm Friday, May 20, 2016

There were no bidders Thursday in an auction for the Circle of Love Center building on Mabry Street.

The building, located at 515 Mabry Street, was seized by the Internal Revenue Service in March due to the nonpayment of taxes from Ellwood Community Church. Pastor Gary Crum said in March that the building is owned by Circle of Love Outreach, an organization he helped start in 2002.

Thursday’s auction was the second time the property has been put up for auction without selling. The first auction was scheduled to take place on April 26.

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“We tried to sell it once before at another time and on two different occasions we were unable to sell it,” said Roberta Colee, a property appraisal and liquidation specialist for the Internal Revenue Service.

The minimum bid for Thursday’s auction was $10,042.75, much lower than the minimum bid the first time around. Originally, the minimum bid was listed at $54,742.75.

Cole said as the seller all she can do is give it back to the collection department, which will make a determination on what to do next.

Crum and the Circle of Love Outreach purchased the building in 2004 when it was the Dunn Nursing Home. Circle of Love planned to turn the building into a homeless shelter and several renovations were completed, but Crum said it didn’t take long for the group to realize a lot more work would have to be done.

The center did not tenants for much of the time Circle of Love owned the building. Crum said following Hurricane Katrina the building opened up as a shelter for an estimated 40 families, but said that only lasted a short period of time.

A short time later, the building was used to house Wallace Community College Selma students. Crum said around 15 students lived in the home at that time.

Since then, the building has been vacant.

Before being seized by the IRS, Crum said the building had been put up for sale and had generated interest from at least one gentleman, who was interested in turning it back into an assisted living facility.