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And now it’s up for auction.

The former International Wildlife Museum on the west side of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ is set to be sold to the highest bidder on Sept. 25.

The museum of taxidermied animals abruptly closed its doors on Dec. 31 after 35 years in business. The , which operated the museum, has since moved its headquarters from ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ to San Antonio, Texas.

by real estate brokerage firm Colliers and online auction platform Ten-X includes the 51,000-square-foot, fortress-like museum building and the 11.4 acres surrounding it on Gates Pass Road, just west of Camino de Oeste.

“This is the first and only time that it’s ever been for sale,� said Mindy Korth, executive vice president for Colliers.

This is no ordinary auction, either.

The starting bid is $1, and the seller has agreed to accept the highest offer at the end of the auction, regardless of the amount.

“That’s a really unique feature about this auction,� Korth said. “This is such a great opportunity to get it into the hands of another community organization.�

Hunter’s paradise

The complex includes a 96-seat theater, two large exhibit halls, a commercial kitchen and a cafeteria, along with offices, workshops and storage areas.

Korth said it could easily be turned into another museum, a performance hall, a worship center, a spa and retreat or even a medical facility.

She added that the owner of the property hired a consultant to develop a list of possible uses based on the current zoning, which would prohibit any kind of high-density development.

“We’re anticipating that the building is going to stay,� Korth said. “It’s a generous site, but it’s not a site where someone could take the building down and put (the land) to some sort of denser use.�

The upcoming sale does not include any of the stuffed animals once on display, though some of the museum’s less exotic contents are being sold in at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

That sale includes almost 500 entries, ranging from office furniture and kitchen equipment to an information display screen shaped like a life-sized African ibex and a 20-foot-long animal kingdom jigsaw puzzle with over 10,000 pieces.

According to , the International Wildlife Museum was dreamed up by ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ attorney Royal Bouschor and trophy hunter C.J. McElroy, who founded the Safari Club in 1972.

When the museum opened in 1988, much of its collection came from McElroy himself, who boasted more than 425 entries in ‘s record book of trophy animals.

The design of the building is said to be based on a French Foreign Legion post he visited while hunting in Chad.

McElroy eventually moved to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ to retire. He died in 2002 at age 88.

Not every animal at the International Wildlife Museum was dead. The attraction eventually added live demonstration animals, including snakes, monitor lizards, turtles, insects and a .

A pond in front of the building once housed Sonoran mud turtles and several species of rare desert fish under agreements with state and federal wildlife agencies. According to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Game and Fish Department spokesman Mark Hart, those animals have all been relocated to other safe-harbor locations across ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.

Absolute auction

From its earliest days, the museum and the hunting group that operated it drew frequent criticism from animal rights groups that accused Safari Club International of using conservation work as a smokescreen to promote trophy hunting and create an international market for the killing of rare animals, including some species threatened with extinction.

At the museum’s grand opening, which featured men on camelback dressed as legionnaires, roughly 300 Safari Club members and contributors showed up in safari clothes, only to be met by an almost equal number of protestors carrying picket signs for the assembled television news cameras.

It’s unclear why the museum shut down. The Safari Club International Foundation declined to give a reason for the closure.

In a written statement to the Star, foundation CEO W. Laird Hamberlin confirmed the group’s move to San Antonio and thanked the members, volunteers, workers, donors and visitors who “generously supported the museum over the years.�

Former ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ City Councilman Steve Kozachik was not one of those supporters. About five years ago, disgusted by Safari Club Internation’s policies toward wildlife, Kozachik said he lobbied the local nonprofit Visit ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ to stop actively promoting the museum to tourists.

He views its closure as something worth celebrating.

“I’m happy to see them gone, and I wish they were never here,� Kozachik said. “Maybe now we can put that facility to productive use as something other than a place that celebrates the killing of animals.�

Korth said this is the first so-called “absolute auction� that she has participated in during her 30-year career as a broker. “It makes it fun as a real estate person,� she said.

Without getting into specifics, she said “a good number of people� had already registered to participate.

Korth declined to speculate about how much might sell for, but she said potential bidders would have to provide proof of financing and be pre-approved up to their maximum bid amount.

Tours of the property will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 13.

“That’s Friday the 13th,� Korth said after checking her calendar. “I love Friday the 13ths.�