Androscoggin County commissioners Wednesday indicated they are considering selling the former Subaru dealership building on Center Street in Auburn and looking for a less expensive option for a new Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office.

Commissions instructed county Administrator Jeff Chute to investigate whether the county could keep money from the sale or lease of the 774 Center St. location and four house properties adjacent to the property.

The properties were purchased by the county in 2022 with $4.5 million in federal money with the plan to move the sheriff’s office and communications center there. The current location in the aging Androscoggin County Building on Turner Street has a host of problems.

Chute will now determine if the money from a sale would need to be returned to the federal government, and if not, whether it could be earmarked exclusively for a new sheriff’s office location. “This would ensure the funds would not be used for other purposes in the future,” he said.

Sheriff Eric Samson said that if the majority of the seven commissioners cannot support the project at the dealership site, they should sell the property if there is an assurance the money can be put in reserve to purchase property that works for the sheriff’s office and commissioners.

Costs to renovate the former Evergreen Subaru building, construct an addition and other structures, and provide adequate parking, were estimated in 2025 to be about $29 million. Commissioners voted 4-3 against a proposal to raise the money through a bond. They subsequently rejected a $26 million proposal.

Complicating the matter, a new ordinance in Auburn would cost the county money if the building is left vacant, Chute said.

Jamison “J.P.” Schwartz, a senior project manager with AlliedCook Construction in Scarborough, on Wednesday walked commissioners through various aspects of the proposed project at the former dealership, explaining the cost of the project’s components.

One option, for instance, would be to eliminate the proposed gym and locker spaces for deputies; another option would eliminate the communications center.

Deputies and dispatchers work out of the county building. After elevated fungal counts showed higher than normal levels in the basement, deputies moved upstairs in the 170-year-old building in April.

Samson told commissioners he would like to keep his organization together so that one part was not removed from another.

“Every time we move, we lose something,” he said. For instance, deputies no longer have an interview room with recording ability for victims and potential suspects.

As far at the gym goes, he said, they have to think of the physical and mental well-being of the deputies and the work they do.

Samson said each component of the plan had been carefully thought out to make the location work for him and his staff. He, the chief deputy and others worked closely with architects from Harriman Associates on the plan.

Each year the project is put off, prices increase 3%-6%, Schwartz said.

Samson said he and Chief Deputy William Gagne have been looking at other possible properties that may need some renovation, including in Lewiston. They have found some great properties that would work, but have limited parking, he said.

That said, Samson was clear with the commissioners that he felt the best choice was the former dealership property.

“That is the ideal location that is being proposed,” he said. “There is a lot that goes into a public safety facility.”

Any proposal chosen by the commission would need to go to voters in each Androscoggin County town.

Without a consensus, Samson proposed the commissioners sell the dealership property if they could guarantee the money could be dedicated for relocation of the sheriff’s office.

“My goal is to address the facility needs of the sheriff’s office, and where this proposal is in the ideal location and is an ideal facility, it isn’t supported by the majority of the commissioners. I would suggest that we sell the properties (and) use the funds for the original intent of addressing the agency’s needs in a facility commissioners support.”

The commission is expected to resume discussion and investigation of the issue at its next meeting May 20 at 5:30 p.m. at the county building at 2 Turner St.