City Council Monday introduced an ordinance that, if adopted next month, would transfer the razor-wire-protected former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) property on Chestnut Avenue near Juniata Gap Road to the Redevelopment Authority, so the authority can market it via a request for proposals.

There reportedly has been interest in the property.

The authority would be able to exercise discretion in obtaining an arrangement for the real estate that would benefit the community, according to Ron Beatty, a member both of council and the authority.

“We’re just trying to get the best value,” Beatty said. “I feel it needs to go out to the public for an open offer.”

ICE ceased operations there in early 2025, relocating those operations to Georgia, then turned the facility back to the city several months later.

The 5.6-acre property has been appraised at $2.3 million, City Manager Christopher McGuire said previously.

ICE Armory Operations began in 2017 at the site.

Those included “the acquisition, testing, issuance and maintenance of all ICE-owned firearms, law enforcement equipment and ammunition,” according to a 2017 news release from the agency.

The site was also used for storage of seized weapons, McGuire said.

The facility had been linked to immigration since July 1994, when ICE predecessor Immigration and Naturalization Service turned it into a weapons repair facility, according to information from Mirror archives.

From 1947 until shortly before INS took it over, the property was the site of a U.S. Naval Reserve Training Center, according to information provided previously by local historian Michael Farrow, who researched archives of the Altoona Tribune, and the Mirror archives.

The facility is “first class,” according to Beatty.

It has gun range facilities, and the old Naval Reserve building has a gym, kitchen and offices, Beatty said.

“It’s all kept up well,” he said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.