BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The trustees of Birmingham-Southern College said in statement Monday that a purchase agreement with Miles College to purchase the campus of the shuttered liberal arts school expired at 3 p.m. on Monday.
It was not immediately clear what led to the announcement or if the sale of the BSC campus to Miles was off. A message was left with Miles College Monday afternoon.
The purchase agreement between the schools was executed on Sept. 25 and set for a closing date of Oct. 25. The price of the sale was not disclosed.
“The BSC community has great respect for Miles College, its students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and appreciates both the shared roots and the alignment of missions,” the news release said. “But to meet its commitments to lenders and other creditors, the BSC Board of Trustees is obligated to sell the 192-acre campus property as quickly as possible.”
The closing date was pushed to Nov. 25, according to BSC’s release. Miles College had requested another extension on Nov. 15 to Dec. 24, but the request was declined, according to the trustees. No reason was given.
Huntsville-based Alabama A&M University made two offers to purchase the BSC campus this year. Their $52 million offer would have cleared all of BSC's outstanding debt.
At press time Monday, it was not clear if AAMU's bid would be reconsidered or if the university would continue to pursue a purchase.
BSC, a private liberal arts college, announced its closure earlier this year amid mounting debts, enrollment decline and a failure to secure a loan from the state to stay in operation. The Alabama Legislature in 2023 passed a law that could provide funding to the school, but the state treasurer declined to provide the loan. An attempt to amend the law this spring to require the loan to be made was unsuccessful.
Portions of this article originally appeared in the Alabama Reflector, an independent, nonprofit news outlet. It appears on FOX54.com under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
