LEICESTER, Mass. - The Town of Leicester earned $1,235,000 from an auction of five properties formerly part of the Becker College campus, the town disclosed in a release on Thursday. 

The largest bid at Wednesday's auction was for the former Winslow Hall, which sold for $350,000. The cheapest property at auction was Hitchcock Hall, which fetched $170,000. 

Town Administrator David Genereaux said a public auction seemed to be the best way to handle the sale of these five properties as an open, transparent process. The town had purchased Becker College's buildings in 2021 after the school shut down amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"I think it's the best way that we can reuse these buildings," Genereaux said. "They've been a part of the community for, in some cases, 150 or 200 years. It would be nice to have a new chapter for them, a new place, new families and a new use. They served Becker long and well, now it's time for them to serve another purpose."

Located on Main Street, all five buildings are subject to historic district regulations, so if the new owners want to make any changes to the outside of their building, they will first have to seek approval.