The historic Columbia Hall in Contoocook sold yesterday at auction to a couple from town who aren't sure what they'll do with it.

Joyce and Chuck Rose started the bidding at $25,000 and no one went higher. Now the expansive, centrally located - and rickety - building is theirs.

As they accepted congratulations from friends and signed papers agreeing to buy the building from the town, the Roses said they have no specific plans for it yet.

"We'll just see what happens," said Joyce Rose, who grew up playing basketball and attending Girl Scout meetings in the hall, and who sent her son to preschool there. "We're going to fix it up and see what opportunities come up. Maybe we'll have Thanksgiving here. Who knows?"

About 40 people showed up to watch the auction, which was conducted without a minimum required bid and "without warranties" as to the condition of the building. Only a few people signed up to participate.

Before the bidding opened at 10 a.m., the crowd milled about the hall, reflecting on old basketball games and theater shows, and speculating about asbestos and other hidden hazards. During the auction, they gathered and watched.

Auctioneer John French started the bidding high - at $100,000 - but came down quickly when he saw he had no takers. The Roses chimed in first, and another couple, Carol Hooper and Roland Dubois, considered offering $27,500 but ultimately decided against it.

"Folks, how can you buy a building like this for $25,000?" French said, interrupting his

auctioneer's patter. "This is a gorgeous, gorgeous building."

A few minutes later, he asked the crowd for a moment of silence to "reflect on what you're leaving behind" before he agreed to sell to the Roses.

(Afterward, French confessed that he had expected the building to sell for between $25,000 and $30,000.)

The building is assessed at $200,000 but has structural problems that led town officials to shutter it last year. That closure interrupted myriad community programs: preschool, dance classes, Boy Scout and Girl Scout meetings, senior lunches, fitness classes and biweekly bingo. Town officials estimated that it would take $200,000 to make the building useful again. The Roses said they thought they could make necessary improvements for far less, about $50,000 to start.

The couple, who own the Webster-based Chuck Rose Logging company, said little about their plans, but they do not plan to tear the building down.

"There's no trees on this," Chuck Rose joked.

The hall dates back to the 19th century, when it was built as a one-story livery stable for Walter Davis. It has been owned by the town for more than 100 years.

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