PITTSBURGH — A dispute erupted Tuesday over efforts to save Pittsburgh’s bankrupt August Wilson Center for African American Culture.

Pittsburgh’s mayor and the country executive asked a local judge to remove the conservator who has been handling bids for the downtown building and its contents. The joint statement from Mayor William Peduto and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald came after three foundations said Monday that they were withdrawing a bid.

Peduto and Fitzgerald said they are concerned that court-appointed conservator Judith Fitzgerald “has favored a commercial approach (and) has not presented any significant plan to preserve the mission of the center.” They also said they “strongly support the previous bid submitted by the Pittsburgh Foundation, the Heinz Endowments and the Richard King Mellon Foundation.”

The foundations had said Fitzgerald, who is not related to the county executive, appeared to favor a higher bid for the property and persisting would be “futile.”

The $40 million center, which was built using $17.4 million in taxpayer money, opened in 2009. It honors the late Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, who grew up in Pittsburgh, and hosted jazz concerts, plays, dance, art exhibits, films and other cultural events. But the construction went far over budget and the center faced daunting debts the day it opened.

A judge recently approved selling off its downtown building to settle debts totaling about $10 million. The conservator said two of the three other bids fall into the dining and entertainment category while the fourth is from a developer who wants to build commercial space on top of the building.