ASHLAND — Ashland County commissioners have agreed to pay $150,000 for a property along Church Street they hope to demolish and build a new office facility for various county departments.
Commissioners unanimously approved of entering into the purchase agreement with Kenneth G. Sidle for his property at 337 Church Street on Thursday during their regular meeting.
The property has two houses on it, both of which are unoccupied, said Commissioner Jim Justice, who worked on the deal.
“It was used as a rental,” he said.
Justice credited Ashland County Auditor Cindy Funk with the idea to approach Sidle about the property.
“So I made some calls and it worked out really well,” Justice said. “(Sidle) was looking to put money in it but said, ‘If the county needs it, I’m willing to sell.’”
Sidle said the main house is where he grew up as a child in the 1940s. He graduated from Ashland High School in 1954, he said, before moving to Columbus to play basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
He said the house has three bedrooms, with room for another living area in the basement and in the “cottage” behind the main house.
“Whole lots of stories out of that house,” he said, adding he is glad the county will be able to use it.
According to property records, Sidle bought the property in 2014 for $44,200 from a trustee of Shirley M. Wolfe, who is listed as the property’s owner since 1990.
Justice said the plan is to tear down the existing structures and build a new office building that would house county offices such as the treasurer, auditor, coroner and others.
The commissioner said it’s too early to commit to a timeline.
