The former St. Catherine Medical Center sold at auction for $719,250 to a developer.

The website Ten-X had the 20.69-acre property for sale. Bidding started at $200,000.

“The buyer is a private entity out of the Lehigh Valley,” said Craig Dunkle, the listing agent with Marcus and Millichap, a firm that specializes in real estate investment sales and other services.

Plans are not finalized on the use of the property, he said.

The auction started Tuesday and ended at 2:12 p.m. Thursday.

The approved bidder was accepted at the end of the auction. They were required to deposit 10% of the price. Approximately 30 days after the sale, the bidder must pay the total cost, Dunkle said.

“We had 20 registered bidders,” he said.

Fourteen were approved for bidding; seven actively did so. Two entities remained vying against each other for the property, Dunkle said.

“We were happy with the auction,” he said, adding the sale of the property is an opportunity to bring economic growth to Fountain Springs.

The building is six floors and 191,858 square feet. It had been owned by MSCG PA SPE LLC, Hollywood, Florida, according to the Schuylkill County Parcel Locator. Dunkle said MSCG is an ownership group based out of New York.

Ashland Properties sold the property on March 13, 2020, to MSCG, records show.

The Ashland hospital, known as the first hospital in Schuylkill County, has a long history. In 1879 state legislation was approved to form the State Hospital for Injured Persons of the Anthracite Coal Region at Fountain Springs.

Construction of the new hospital began in May 1880 and was completed in 1882.

Originally the hospital could only accept injured miners, railroad and textile workers, in that order.

No women or children, or people with serious illnesses, would be accepted as patients until the early 1900s.

The current building was completed in 1967, and the original building was demolished at the same time.

The hospital’s name became Ashland State General Hospital over the years.