The vacant Kane Armory has jumped one more hurdle to new ownership.

State Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, announced Monday that the House voted unanimously to authorize the sale of the historic building. Causer is a sponsor of the legislation.

The legislation will now go before the Senate to consider.

Causer introduced the legislation at the request of the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. According to House Bill 1787, the price of the armory and an adjacent weekend training site will be determined by competitive bid.

“It costs the Commonwealth nearly $10,000 annually to maintain the armory building, which has been vacant now for a few years,” Causer said. “I believe it’s in the best interest of taxpayers to have the property put to productive use and placed on the tax rolls.”

A previous statement from Causer’s office indicated the armory property includes the just-under-16,000-square foot armory and a detached three-bay garage on about 0.34 acres, and the training site includes a fenced compound with a metal storage building and smaller storage sheds on about 1.46 acres.

According to the armory’s National Register of Historic Places form, it includes a brick art deco-style building with an addition that was built in 1929.

Built in 1922, the Kane Armory is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Causer said, explaining that the initial bidding round will include an historic preservation covenant approved by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

“The person or entity that purchases the building with the covenant would receive a discount on the property in exchange for the preservation of the building,” a statement from Causer’s office explained. “If the property is not sold in the first round of bidding, the covenant would be removed for the second bid request.”