Three good proposals will make deciding who to award ownership of the former Mandan Library building a triply-difficult decision for Mandan's City Commission.

The Mandan Library moved to a new location last summer, and the former building has sat idle since. The commission has been trying to sell off the building, appraised at $180,000, but didn't receive its first offer until November.

After rejecting a proposal from Joni and Doug Wyatt to turn the library into their home, they heard from Lewis and Clark Community Works. A nonprofit agency that helps people buy homes, Community Works offered to buy the building for $1 and turn it into offices for their 10 employees.

That offer is still on the table, but the city has received two more. The newly formed Mandan Historical Society would like to purchase the building for $1 as well, to turn it into a museum. The Wyatts are helping the society with the endeavor. The group also has made an offer on another building.

Both organizations would need six months to a year to acquire grants and funding to make the building, which needs significant restoration, usable. Community Works has the money to take over monthly expenses for the building immediately but the Historical Society would need to raise money to do so.

Another local group asked the commission Tuesday to consider allowing them to purchase the building and turn it into a used bookstore with Internet access. They didn't attach a dollar amount to the offer but said they'd return in two weeks with a bid. The plan was submitted by Edward and Susan Huntington, Edward Wos and Marianne Tangen, who promised no pornography or related materials would be sold at their store.