HAMMOND | The city is looking to buy the old federal courthouse on State Street for resale to the First Baptist Church.

"The GSA is in discussions with the city about the sale of that building but can't give out any details of the discussions," said David Wilkinson, spokesman for the General Services Administration, the federal government's main buying arm.

Wilkinson said if the city decides not to pursue buying the building, the GSA plans to take it to public sale later this year.

Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. confirmed the city's interest Thursday.

McDermott said within recent months he has met with the Rev. Jack Schaap, pastor at First Baptist, who laid out his vision for a campus along State Street where the federal courthouse is located.

"This is part of that vision," he said.

McDermott said another potential tenant for the building had not proven acceptable to the city.

"The First Baptist vision is much more in the best interest of the city," he said.

The seat of the U.S. District Court in Northwest Indiana since the 1930s, the nearly 32,000-square-foot building was vacated in 2002 upon completion of the new federal building at 5400 Hohman Ave.

At various times over the years, the building has been of interest to Lake County government, the North Township trustee's office, Hammond city government and Hammond City Court Judge Jeffrey Harkin.

Under former Mayor Duane Dedelow Jr.'s administration, the GSA had hoped to exchange the court building with city government for help with creating more parking space for the new federal building.

Eddie Lapina, administrative pastor at First Baptist, said the Dedelow administration later decided it wasn't interested in the building. If the city obtains the building, however, First Baptist continues to be very interested in buying it, Lapina said.

"That has not been approved by the GSA," he said. "That's what we're waiting on."

If the plan is successful, Lapina said the church will use the building for its administrative offices.

No purchase price has been determined, but Lapina said the church estimates renovation costs at $1 million.

Lake County Commissioner Roosevelt Allen Jr. said the county decided to forgo buying the facility some five years ago because it found the potential utility costs too high.

"The height of the ceilings are about 30 feet or higher, especially in the courtroom areas," Allen said. "They realized we could not afford to pay the monthly utility bill so that is why we did not pursue the acquisition of that building."

Allen said in contrast to the Hammond facility, the old Social Security Administration building in Gary was move-in ready and didn't need extensive renovation. The GSA sold that building to the Calumet Township trustee's office in 2006 for under market price, he said.