WESTBROOK – A former church building that was supposed to be home to a new cultural center in Westbrook’s downtown is now up for sale, after the owners said necessary repairs to the building have made that proposed use impossible.

“It became cost-prohibitive to go in that direction,” said Richard Begin, senior programming officer of community development at Westbrook Housing, which bought the building for $1 in July 2011 from the Allen Avenue Unitarian Universalist Church in Portland.

Back then, Trudy McNulty, speaking for the church, said the goal was to make sure the 19th-century building didn’t get turned into condominiums.

“That’s our fear, that someone would do that and chop it up,” she said.

McNulty did not respond to multiple requests for comment this week.

A sign outside the 719 Main St. building shows it is up for sale by Greater Portland Realty.

Begin said Westbrook Housing took over the building with the intent to turn it into a cultural center, similar to the Chocolate Church Arts Center in Bath.

The intent also was to make the building an activity center for senior citizens, Begin said, but another opportunity addressed that need. The building known as Presumpscot Commons, which Westbrook Housing renovated into senior housing, had a gymnasium and a few other rooms that remained the property of the Westbrook Recreation Department.

Just two months after getting the Main Street church building, Begin said, the department donated the space in Presumpscot Commons to Westbrook Housing, which then became the senior activity center.

“That took one less need from the church (building),” he said.

At that point, he said, the costs for renovating the former church into a usable space began to add up. The building needs new sprinklers, he said, which alone will cost $40,000. Add to that a new roof and boiler, he said, and Westbrook Housing would have to spend $120,000, and that doesn’t include any renovations needed to make it into the under-100-seat venue Westbrook Housing wanted.

This is not the first time a cultural development from Westbrook Housing did not go according to plan. Three so-called “artist’s condos,” which opened in January of 2011, were intended to be marketed to artists who would live in the upstairs portion, and use the downstairs portion for a workshop, gallery and retail space.

But after months with no takers, Westbrook Housing eventually sold the condos as more traditional units, with owners retaining the right to rent out the lower level to local businesses.

Bill Baker, Westbrook’s assistant city manager for business and community relations, said this week that while the church building did not work out as a downtown cultural center, that doesn’t mean there isn’t an interest in making Westbrook’s downtown a cultural hub for the city.

“I think not only could it work, but I’d like to see it,” he said.

Begin said there had been some interest from the Portland Spiritualist Church, which is based in Westbrook and operates out of the second floor of the American Legion hall at the edge of Riverbank Park.

Michael Carter, the church’s president, said the Spiritualist Church paid rent to the Unitarians in exchange for use of the church when the Unitarians weren’t holding services. That relationship, Carter said, lasted up until about four years ago, when the church closed.

Carter said the church has made no formal offer on the building.

“We’ve had an individual investigating options with (Westbrook Housing),” he said.

Westbrook Housing’s asking price for the building is $150,000, but is willing to negotiate. Offers on the property are due by Oct. 15. The real estate agency is holding an open house at the property Sunday from 1-4 p.m.

If there are no offers, Begin said, Westbrook Housing’s board of directors will have to decide what to do next. The hope, he said, is to keep the building intact.

“We don’t want to be known as the entity that tore a church down,” he said.