Thursday, 4:30 PM
Haverhill college campus is sold
(Globe file photo)
Bradford College in 2000, the year it closed its doors.
By Erin Ailworth, Globe Staff
The campus once occupied by Bradford College in Haverhill has been sold to a benefactor who plans to donate it to Rhode-Island-based Zion Bible College.
Haverhill Mayor James J. Fiorentini announced the sale earlier this week in a press release posted on the city's Web site.
Zion Bible previously had been interested in buying the 18-acre campus, but in December that deal fell through because the college felt too many repairs were needed. The campus has been vacant for seven years.
Then the out-of-state benefactor stepped foward and saved the campus from going on the auction block. Terms of the deal weren't immediately available.
An assistant for David Green, founder and chief executive of Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby, confirmed today that Green had purchased the campus. No other information was available.
Green, who started his arts-and-crafts store empire in 1972, has been listed by Forbes as one of the richest Americans.
Fiorentini said a "wealthy benefactor" of Zion Bible was going to buy the campus and Zion Bible was going to "use the money they would have used to buy the school ... to rehab the buildings."
Bradford, which opened its doors in 1803, closed in May 2000 after having financial problems.
