The John W. Higgins Armory building in Worcester, a building that once was home to a museum featuring suits of armor and arms, is up for sale, according to Loopnet.com.
Located at 100 Barber Ave., the building is currently owned by the New Hampshire-based ZJBV Properties, per the website.
One of ZJBV Properties' brokers, Brian Thibeault of New Hampshire, confirmed to MassLive on Wednesday that if someone expressed interest in buying the building, they would sell it. The selling price for the building is negotiable, Thibeault said.
The property for sale at 100 Barber Ave. is 42,000 square feet, with 80% of its space currently leased, according to Loopnet.com.
The Art Deco, steel-and-glass building was constructed in 1930 and currently has an assessed value of $1,904,100, according to the city’s property records.
The museum opened in 1931 and was founded by John Woodman Higgins, owner of the Worcester Pressed Steel Company, according to the Worcester Art Museum website.
Higgins loved medieval tales of knights and castles and he became involved in armor collecting in the early 20th century, the art museum’s website reads. Higgins' wife had encouraged him to find somewhere outside their home for his growing personal collection of armor, MassLive reported in 2013. Higgins’ metal company occupied the bottom two floors of the five-story building.
- Photo gallery: See inside the museum
The museum featured two wings, one “ancient” and another “modern.” The ancient wing featured suits of armor, while the modern wing showcased modern metalwork, such as an automobile engine and a Piper Cub airplane, according to the website.
In 2018, the Higgins collection was the second largest of its kind in the Americas, next only to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s, MassLive reported at the time. It includes arms, armor and metalwork from around the world, and is known for its rare grouping of suits of plate armor from 15th- to 17th-century Europe.
A year after the museum closed in 2013, its collection was moved to the Worcester Art Museum, MassLive reported after the art museum got a grant to support the collection in 2018.
In recent years, the building that once housed the armory has been used as a venue for events, such as weddings and proms.