A prominent Freeport Road property in Harrison could see new life after sitting vacant for years.
The former Grace United Methodist Church education building is at 1329 Freeport Road, across from Highlands Middle School.
It was briefly on the market for $160,000 and is under contract through the Compass real estate company.
Agent Dacia Kreinbrook said she could not release details but the closing is expected in early June.
Residents might know the building as a longtime draw during year-‘round fish Fridays, when the circular driveway would fill with cars.
Volunteers manned deep fryers 45 Fridays a year.
Older families might recall it for being a teen hotspot in the 1960s and ’70s when dance parties were hosted on the flat rooftop.
On about two-thirds of an acre, the building is nearly 30,000 square feet. There are 15 parking spaces behind the building.
The site, built in 1962, was almost a necessity for the church in its early days, when it boasted 1,500 parishioners.
Church trustee Walter Rutkowski said the building has a social hall, classrooms and rooftop patio with a snack shop.
It was built under direction from longtime pastor the Rev. Robert Harlan Cairns to accommodate the baby-boomer “demographic bulge.”
“Roller skating and dancing were popular community attractions, as were Easter sunrise services,” Rutkowski said.
Through the years, as church membership declined, the building housed offices, day care centers and other programming.
The building first went up for sale in 2007, when then-Pastor Glenn Kohlhepp said the decision was based on finances. It took about $20,000 a year to maintain the space.
“It was simply too big for Grace to operate feasibly,” Rutkowski said.
The space was sold in 2008, and twice more since, but has remained mostly vacant.
Kreinbrook said the two-story building is zoned residential. Churches and schools are permitted uses.
“Anyone that would intend any kind of commercial use would need to go in front of the zoning board,” she said.