A New Brunswick basketball court, believed to be the oldest remaining one in the world, is a step closer to preservation now that a group called Canada 1st Basketball is negotiating a price for the property.

The court on the upper level of a roughly 125-year-old St. Stephen, N.B. building served as a YMCA in the late 1800s. A YMCA in Paris has also laid claim to the oldest court in the world title, but Canada 1st Basketball president Peter Corby insists that St. Stephen’s is older.

Basketball was invented by James Naismith, a Canadian physical education instructor, in 1891 in Springfield, Mass. Corby said early versions of basketball from that era were played in multi-purpose gymnasiums and very different from the modern game.

“It was almost like a rugby game. There were nine players on each team. Three centres, three forwards, (and) three guards,” he told CTV’s Your Morning on Thursday. “(There was) a lot of pushing, a lot of shoving.”

Corby said the original hardwood floor of the St. Stephen court was discovered underneath old carpet after a 2010 fire.

“When they pulled back the carpet, holy mackerel,” he said. “That is the forgotten floor of the basketball court.”

The property has changed hands several times over the years, serving as a dance hall and a meeting room for local lodges.

Canada 1st Basketball wants to preserve the court and open a basketball museum on the site. The group plans to apply for federal and charity grants to fund the project, and is negotiating a price to purchase the building from the current owners.

“It’s going to be a win-win situation for both of us,” Corby said. “We are enthusiastic about it. Things are starting to move now.”