LAURIUM – A Keweenaw church is looking to buy a former senior center building in Laurium.

Ben Eckl, pastor of the Calvary Chapel Keweenaw Peninsula in Copper City, spoke to the Laurium Village Council at its meeting Tuesday.

The chapel had earlier offered $1 for the former CLK Senior Citizens Center building, as well as paying seller’s costs and agreeing to extensive upgrades. The village made a counteroffer Tuesday of $30,000.

The price is under the fair market value of $39,000, said village Administrator Ed Vertin.

“(Village attorney Paul Tomasi) said whatever the fair market value is, it should go at fair market value,” he said. “You’ve got it listed, drop the price ’til it sells.”

Requiring improvements to the building can also be a condition of the sale, he said.

Eckl said he would have to confer with the church’s board. He said the church’s bank had prequalified them for an equity loan but had been skittish about the potential for default.

“We’re looking at $30 to $40,000 to get the place so you can turn the key safely for handicapped access and fire access and get the boiler recommissioned,” he said. “With our current financial state, we’re not going to try to bite off more than we can chew. I can’t go to the board at the bank and say, ‘Hey, speculatively …’ we could be at 80 grand, and we just can’t obligate ourselves to that.”

Eckl said the church had no future plans to sell the building.

Councilman Jeff Erickson said while the council had reached a consensus that “we didn’t want to give it away” it is supportive of Eckl’s plan.

Eckl said he can’t get an assessment on the building’ value from the bank until the church gets a signed purchase agreement. At that time, he said, an assessor will determine the building’s value, which will be used to determine the amount of the bank loan.

“We’re in a holding pattern,” he said.