CLEARFIELD TWP — CNC Malt wants to buy the closed Clearfield Elementary School building.

The building on Clearfield Road has been closed since the Butler School District consolidated several schools in the summer of 2015. That consolidation closed five elementary schools: Clearfield, Broad Street, Center Avenue, Meridian and Oakland. Center Avenue was reopened as an alternative and special education school.

Until now, no offers have been submitted for Clearfield.

CNC Malt has offered $235,000 for the property, which has an average appraised value of $236,000.

The company wants to use the building as a malt house, according to the offer submitted to the district.

CNC Malt got its start about a year ago, and while there are only two employees, it will look to hire four more people once the facility opens, according to President Brendan Carroll.

The company uses local grains to malt and then sells that to Pennsylvania breweries, Carroll said. Although the company is just starting up, Carroll anticipates selling its malted product to about 30 breweries in the state this year.

There are about 360 breweries statewide.

The company has about 130 acres of its own grain planted, but it also buys from local farmers, Carroll said.

“I think it’s a good fit for us and a good fit for the community since it’s primarily agricultural,” Carroll said.

By having the headquarters and malt house in Clearfield Township, CNC Malt could buy grains from farmers in the area and help the local economy.

The company is working to get the permits to build on Bull Creek Road, but that process has been slow, Carroll said.

The offer for the school is to ensure that the company has a malt house facility by the time of the winter barley harvest this June or July. For that reason, Carroll hopes the process moves along fairly quickly.

The district has not taken any action on this proposal.

Previously, a citizens group led by Dan Mennor in Clearfield Township considered an effort to buy the school for use as a community center, but Mennor told the board that group could not make an official offer.

Carroll said the company would be open to discussing the options for a community center. “Whatever the interest is, we can work on it,” he said.