Sep. 14--DERRY, N.H. -- A public hearing for the sale of the Upper Village Hall has been canceled, but that doesn't mean the historic building won't be sold to the East Derry Village Improvement Society.

Town Councilor Neil Wetherbee said the town is still working out a deal and should have a contract soon, it's just taking longer than expected.

The Town Council agreed in July to negotiate a sales contract with the nonprofit group to sell the historic building.

Wetherbee, a member of a council subcommittee negotiating the deal, said the town is almost finished the deal and the hearing could be rescheduled in the next couple of weeks.

"We don't want to say it'll be done for next meeting, even though we think it will be," he said.

In July, the society asked the town to sell the property for $1. No sales price has been determined. The property is assessed at about $500,000. Renovations have been estimated at about $800,000.

The 133-year-old building has been vacant since 2005. It was once home to countless community groups, the East Derry Fire Department and East Derry post office.

But, in recent years, the building has aged and needs many repairs before it can be used again.

If the East Derry society becomes owners of the property, members will begin renovating it and hope to see it become a community center again.

But without a deal in place and the weather turning colder by the day, it's unlikely any work can be done to fix the building before winter, Wetherbee said.SClBThe group had said they would like to fix some of the exterior and paint the building before winter.

A public hearing will be scheduled as soon as a deal has been reached, Wetherbee said.

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