The Blue Mountains' former town hall will soon be torn down.

Council voted last Monday night to award the contract for demolishing the Bridge St. building to McGowan Construction Service. The $49,662 contract calls for the site to be cleared for use as public greenspace.

Council set up a committee to study other uses for the building. Three proposals were received, but none met the zoning and finance requirements, so the committee recommended last October that the building should be torn down. The old town hall was built to serve the former town of Thornbury only. It was too small to serve The Blue Mountains after amalgamation.

A new municipal building was finished last March and town officials moved in in May.

The town later received 15 bids, ranging from McGowan's low of $49,662 to a high of $339,000, noted planning and building director David Finbow.

The old town hall will serve one more purpose before being torn down. Finbow said that Blue Mountains Fire Service has asked to carry out a nondestructive search and rescue training exercise in the building.