According to NBC 10 in Providence, in a memo to the New Bedford City Council, Mayor Jon Mitchell said the city intends to buy the property from the state to save it from demolition with an agreed purchase price of $10. The boarded-up New Bedford Armory, built in 1904, once served as training, meeting, and storage facility for the Massachusetts Army National Guard. The roof is in need of a lot of work and the purchase & sale agreement shows the state would pay to replace it for $3.3 million.

The City Council referred the request to the Committee on City Property on February 24. Mitchell said the substantial investment from the state would make the building a more attractive prospect for developers. The city will likely have to spend about $5,000 a year to keep the building in solid condition until a developer takes over.