Chautauqua County officials are once again trying to get a dilapidated building in Silver Creek restored.

Both the county legislature’s Administrative Services, and Audit and Control committees backed a resolution which would sell the old Silver Creek School at 60 Main St. to Park Grove Realty of Rochester and the Southern Tier Environments for Living for $1.

The sale is contingent upon the purchasers receiving the necessary tax credits, financing, governmental approvals, and permits to redevelop the site.

Region Nine Housing Corp. based in New Jersey had planned on turning it into affordable housing for seniors, but backed out of the $24 million project in February. It was to transform the old school into 47 units of affordable senior housing.

According to Region Nine, part of the reason they backed out was because ceasing its involvement in pursuing all low-income housing tax credit development.

As part of the project, New York state had provided $1 million for the development. Mark Geise, county Industrial Development Agency Director and deputy county executive for economic development, said previously even though Region Nine is out of the picture, the state is keeping that money dedicated to the project.

County attorney Patrick Slagle told members of the Administrative Services Committee this week that Park Grove Realty and STEL want to see if they can get the building converted into senior housing. “Hopefully this time it goes through,” he said.

Legislator Bob Scudder, R-Fredonia, agreed. “This has been a property that’s been there for a while, with the hope of somebody taking it on and making it all it can be,” he said.

During the Audit and Control Committee meeting, assistant county attorney Todd Thomas noted that back in 2011 the county had agreed to sell the property to STEL but that deal fell through.

Thomas said the agreement would include forgiving all back taxes on the property. “Although the county has a judgment of foreclosure against the property, we’ve never been able to sell it in an auction and we’ve stopped trying to. Back taxes continue to accrue. I believe it’s about $260,000 currently on the books,” he said.

The building had been sold years ago to a private person, but Thomas said that person had died and the heirs had no interest in the property, which caused it to go into tax foreclosure.

Thomas said he expects it to take multiple years for STEL and Park Grove Realty to line up funding to make the project viable.

Closed for decades, the school on Main Street has been deteriorating for years. The nearly 100-year old structure is 57,000 square feet that, for now, remains an eyesore to the community.

The resolution still needs final approval from the full legislature when it meets Wednesday.