The Presque Isle City Council will vote Thursday on whether to allow the city to purchase the Nordic Heritage Center, an outdoor sports center and community fixture at the city’s limits that closed in December.
In a memo included in the packet for Thursday’s council meeting, City Manager Sonja Eyler said the city offered $1 million to the owner, Portland-based Libra Foundation, in a letter of interest for the 750-acre property.
Eyler said in the memo that the foundation “responded favorably” to the offer, which is $500,000 below the current asking price of the property and just over a third of the original listed price of $2.9 million.
The letter of interest was not immediately available upon request.
The Libra Foundation has asked the city to sign a purchase and sale agreement prepared by city attorney Richard Currier, the memo said.
Presque Isle’s offer and the public vote follow two weeks of well-attended “listening sessions” held by Eyler at City Hall to gauge community interest in revitalizing the property and exploring methods to do so.
Nordic Heritage Center has been a staple of Aroostook County since it first opened in 1999. It is a world-class biathlon and cross country skiing facility that has hosted both national and international competitions, including the 2014 Biathlon Junior World Championships and races in 2010-11 and 2015-16 Biathlon World Cups, among others.
The facility and its sprawling acreage have also been the site of numerous community events, including high school cross country meets, weddings and the Nordic Trail Festival, which organized bike and trail races there for nearly 20 years.
The Libra Foundation funded the construction of the facility and provided Presque Isle, whose recreation department oversaw the property from 2022 to 2024, with operational support for 25 years. That agreement expired last year, Libra Executive Vice President Erik Hayward told the Bangor Daily News at the time.
The Fort Kent Outdoor Center, also funded by the Libra Foundation, faced the same situation in 2024. The foundation transferred ownership of that facility to the center’s local board of directors, which is attempting to make up for lost funding through an endowment.
Pineland Farms of New Gloucester, which itself is owned by the Libra Foundation, owned the Fort Kent facility and still owns the Nordic Heritage Center.