The former adult education building in Jim Thorpe may soon have a new owner.

On Friday afternoon the Carbon County Area Vocational Technical School Authority opened bids for the sale of the building, located at 77 W. 13th St.Only Carbon County Friends of Animals, a non-profit organization in Jim Thorpe that shelters cats, submitted a bid of $260,105, which exceeded the $257,000 minimum bid requirement.The bid will now be reviewed and a recommendation to award or reject the bid will be made at a CCAVT authority meeting that will be scheduled for next week.The building, which formerly housed CCTI's day care and GED instruction programs was vacated Dec. 31, and the day care discontinued. The three-acre property is owned by Carbon County Area Vocational Technical School Authority.Randall Smith, chairman of the Carbon County Area Vocational Technical School Authority, said that if the bid is awarded, CCFOA will have 45 days to get the necessary variance before being able to proceed with changing the building to a cat shelter.Susie Yaich, co-founder of CCFOA, explained that they already spoke with the neighbors and met a little resistance because of inaccuracies in information.She said that the shelter would not create more traffic on the road, would not create more noise or a smell because it will only be cats and the volunteers clean often to keep smells down, and the shelter would not devalue neighboring properties.She and Kimmy Mulik, board member of CCFOA, thanked the generous donors and supporters who made it possible to submit the bid."If it wasn't for the great donors we wouldn't be here," Mulik said.Presently CCFOA is located along Route 209 in Jim Thorpe, next to the Liberties. The present facility has been deemed too small to handle the volume of cats housed at that location."We want to give these animals a good quality of life," Yaich added. "This building is the perfect fit. There are so many possibilities"She noted that if everything falls into place with the bid and variance, volunteers will be needed to help with moving the felines.Until then, the shelter is continuing to collect promissory notes for donations. To sign a note, visit the shelter's website at ccfoa.info.