BRUIN — The Karns City School Board approved a sales agreement to sell the closed Bruin Elementary School to the Nonprofit Development Corporation of Butler County.

The school board unanimously voted for the sales agreement during a board meeting Thursday night, and Mike Robb, the executive director of the corporation, said his board also has approved the agreement.

A copy of the agreement was not immediately available, but Superintendent Eric Ritzert said the agreement is for $1.

The Bruin school, at 139 School St., has been closed since 2012 due to declining enrollment, according to Ritzert. While the school was listed with a real estate agent for a little more than a year, there was “minimal interest,” Ritzert said. The offers that were received were less than $6,000, and the school was appraised at $236,500 in 2012, Ritzert said.

“Based on our inability to find a buyer of the building over its four-year time that had a sustainable long-term purpose, we felt that partnering with a nonprofit entity was in the best interest of the school district residents,” he said. “Ideally, the school district and probably board members would’ve preferred to sell it, but we were not able to secure that in this area. From the school district’s standpoint, every year we continue to own it, it’s costing us money.”

Ritzert said annual building maintenance cost $20,000 to $30,000.

Robb said the Nonprofit Development Corporation, which has been around since 2010, hopes to create a human services hub in the building.

Because the corporation works on property management and construction for nonprofits, the hub would require partnering with nonprofits and service providers, Robb said.

Because of the location about half an hour from Butler, Armstrong and Clarion, Robb said a community service project could be a good fit and draw in people from all three regions.

Robb said the nonprofit is flexible about when they can formally close on the building, which only can happen after the sale is approved by a Butler County judge, but no hearing date has been set.

For now, there are no renovations planned, and Robb said the corporation will start planning possible uses for the building in the new year. The corporation hopes to receive feedback from the community about what types of services are most needed, Robb said.