ANTRIM, N.H. -- With a bailout plan with another aviation college blocked, Hawthorne College trustees are putting the school's 50-acre airfield and more than 20 campus buildings on the auction block.
Founded in 1962 as Nathaniel Hawthorne College, the aviation college in recent years had seen its enrollment decline and its annual debt increase.
Less than 300 students were enrolled in the college in 1987.
The liberal arts college, which was known primarily for its aviation training courses, opened for a shortened semester in Janury and graduated its last class in April.
Hawthorne trustees had attempted to merge with a flight-certification school in Sterling, Mass., but the deal with the Aviation Training Academy fell through when the school could not provide New Hampshire post-secondary school officials with an independent audit of its holdings.
Hawthorne, which had nearly $4 million in long-term debt and annual operating deficits of more than $400,000, was dealt another blow in the spring when the town of Antrim purchased a tax lien. The town cited unpaid taxes totaling more than $100,000.
Faced with no alternatives, trustees declared bankruptcy and are liquidating the college's holdings.
A Concord auction broker has solicited bids for the 485-acre southwestern New Hampshire campus, which includes properties in three towns, and a West Deering airport with a 3,500-foot runway.
Hawthorne College holdings also include dormitories, administrative facilities, a gymnasium and a 10,000-square foot library. Bids on the property will be opened Oct. 27.
Hawthorne opened its doors to more than 100 freshmen in September 1962. It was founded by Kenneth McLaughlin, then a Nashua municipal court judge.
