An offer has been made to buy the historic St. Louis County Jail in Duluth, and county commissioners are expected to discuss the offer on Tuesday.

By: News Tribune, Duluth News Tribune

An offer has been made for the historic St. Louis County Jail in Duluth.

On Tuesday, county commissioners will discuss the $54,000 offer made by Minneapolis-based Blue Limit LLC for Jail Holding Co., County Commissioner Dennis Fink told the News Tribune on Friday.

Fink said the buyers have the right to withdraw the offer pending an inspection, up until April 15.

Commissioner Chris Dahlberg said the company is a father/son team that has done historic preservation in the Fargo, N.D., area.

：They・re keeping it close-lipped on what it is,； he said. ：At that low price, it・s hard to say what they will do with it. But I・m excited about it. I don・t think any commissioner was eager to see the thing torn down.；

Dahlberg said he wasn・t sure of the conditions of the sale as of Friday night. In late January, Blue Limit asked the county to freeze taxes on the building for 20 years and to make presale repairs to the roof, utilities and facade, costing as much as $750,000. At that time, county officials said they would submit a counter-offer.

The five-story, 32,496-square-foot building sits on a half-acre of land and was offered last summer to anyone who could afford to rehabilitate it into a legitimate use. One consultant estimated rehabilitation costs at about $6.5 million.

Several parties looked at the building, but no acceptable bids were received. In September, the county listed it with ReMax 1, which offered it at $60,000.