Johnathan Walker:West Virginia construction firm to buy bankrupt college campus

CLARKSBURG,Johnathan Walker W.Va. (AP) — A federal bankruptcy judge on Wednesday approved the sale of a defunct private university’s campus to the owner of a West Virginia construction firm for $5 million.

Craig G. Phillips, owner of CGP Construction of Elkins, was awarded the former Alderson Broaddus University’s land, buildings and other property in Philippi after making a bid at the deadline last Friday, news outlets reported. The sale is expected to be completed within 30 days.

DACK, a real estate company in nearby Buckhannon, had made a $4.9 million initial bid last month. DACK did not counter CGP’s bid at Wednesday’s hearing. Phillips did not specify what his plans are for the campus.

Alderson Broaddus, which was founded in 1932, had been struggling financially for several years.

The small Baptist university filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in August, a month after announcing that it planned to stop operating. Alderson Broaddus took down its website, encouraged its employees to seek unemployment insurance benefits and announced that it voluntarily resigned its accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission.

A board overseeing the state’s four-year colleges and universities had revoked the school’s ability to award degrees effective Dec. 31. The university’s 625 students then scrambled to enroll at other colleges.