The Bar Harbor Historical Society announced it has signed a purchase-and-sale agreement with the Maine Seacoast Mission to buy its headquarters.
“A lot still remains to be done in the next 60 days to make this a reality,” Earl Brechlin, a member of the society’s board, told the Mount Desert Islander.
As reported by Mainebiz a year ago, the mission listed the headquarters for sale for $6.295 million. The headquarters is in the historic La Rochelle mansion, a 1902 seaside estate on West Street with more than 40 rooms on three acres, was donated to the mission in 1972 by the Colket family of Philadelphia.
In February, the mission announced it would move its headquarters to a multistory building planned for construction in Northeast Harbor.
In the meantime, the historical society this past June bought a half-acre vacant commercial lot on Cottage Street in downtown Bar Harbor, for $1.3 million, with the idea of increasing the society’s visibility and enable it to build larger accommodations for its growing collections. The society’s existing quarters is in the former three-story St. Edward’s Convent at 33 Ledgelawn Ave., a residential street several blocks from the popular tourist town’s busy downtown area.
