City of Ashland to acquire 16 E. Main St.

ASHLAND – In an effort to obtain grant funds to stabilize the more than 130-year old building’s crumbling facade, the City of Ashland is finalizing a deal to take ownership of 16 E. Main Street.

Located on the north side of Main Street just west of Whitaker-Myers Insurance, the Italianate-style building has been standing since at least 1884, according to records from Ashland Main Street. 

The building has seen better days. 

“16 E. Main St. is probably the last remaining eyesore on Main Street, and the most prominent,” Mayor Matt Miller told city council members Tuesday. “The building continues to deteriorate to the point that we are concerned about the dangers and public hazard that it poses here in the city.”

Miller said he signed an agreement on behalf of the city to pay $12,000 to the current owners, Paul Smith and Bill Sample, in exchange for the property. 

As soon as the agreement is finalized, Miller said, Simonson Construction will stabilize the building with scaffolding until the restoration work can begin. 

Through a limited liability company called Baulsco, Smith and Sample acquired the building in 2016. At that time, they agreed to pay $8,000 in back taxes owed by previous owners. 

Miller said city leaders are willing to pay the owners more than what the the owners paid for the building because “that price takes into consideration all the expense they have had since taking ownership of the building.”

The current property owners do not have the money to fix the facade, which has become a public safety concern. 

If the city deems a building facade unsafe and the owners don’t fix it, Miller said, the city traditionally completes the work and charges the owners on their tax bill. 

“They don’t have the means to make the tax payment on the building already, so we shouldn’t expect that they’re going to come up with the money to fix the facade,” Miller said. 

A cost estimate from last spring for the facade work alone came in at $198,000, Miller said. The building also needs substantial interior work. 

Miller said he has discussed the issue with representatives from the Ohio Development Services Agency on multiple occasions. 

First, an agency representative said the city could likely receive a $125,000 Community Development Block Grant to help cover restoration costs. 

More recently, Miller and city engineer Shane Kremser met with the representative again. She encouraged them to file a grant application by the end of the year. 

“We believe we are going to be able to access perhaps up to double what we originally thought,” Miller said, later clarifying that the grant total could be up to $225,000. 

“We’re investing $12,000, but it looks like by the time this is done we may be able to bring in close to $200,000 to put toward renovation,” Miller said. “So to us it seems like a reasonable investment.”

The grant would require a dollar-for-dollar community match, and Miller said he does not yet know where the matching funds will come from. 

“All of that will be determined, but right now we’re just operating under deadline because we’re trying to get it in before this calendar year ends so that we can take advantage of the unique opportunity that has been placed before us by this state agency,” Miller said. 

After the improvements are complete, the city may sell the building, give it to the land bank or keep it and lease space to community entities such as Ashland Main Street, Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce and Ashland Area Economic Development, Miller said. 

The one thing the city can not do after using state grant funds on the project is move government offices into the building. 

Miller said while the city would prefer not to be in the real estate business, he believes the city’s plan is the best way forward to keep the downtown building standing. 

Council president Steve Workman agreed. 

“This is not a want to, this is a have to. It’s a safety issue,” Workman said.