Littlefield, Texas —
A $6 million bid has been declared the winner of an auction to sell off a prison that has been a financial millstone on the back of a small Texas High Plains town.
Littlefield put the 373-bed Bill Clayton Detention Center up for auction Thursday with a $5 million minimum opening bid.
That's after the 11-year-old, 30-acre prison complex the town had built in the hope of proving a financial bonanza instead went broke.
City Manager Danny Davis says three parties apparently participated in the active bidding, which took about 10 minutes until the winner was declared.
He says the identity of the bidder has not been made known by Williams & Williams Worldwide Real Estate Auction, which handled the bidding. Davis expects the deal
to close in 30 days.