After several conversations with residents, council members and others, the Richwood Opera House Committee is recommending putting the building up for sale. Council members discussed the decision at Tuesday’s meeting but no decisions have been made. The committee did ask to include a stipulation in the sale that preserves the tower and clock for future use.
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The Opera House Committee is recommending that Richwood Council put the much-discussed building up for sale.
At the village council meeting on Tuesday, Council President Reddy Brown, who also serves on the Opera House Committee, gave recommendations from the group and discussed the option to sell the building that has been at the center of a decades-long debate.
Since March, when Preservation Ohio’s Executive Director Thomas Palmer introduced the idea of stipulations when selling the property, Brown said several business people have come forward showing interest in buying the Opera House.
“The state rules are (that) you have to put it out for bid and I think its five weeks or six weeks it has to be in a local publication and then you sell it to the highest bidder, you don’t get to pick from the people that bid, it’s the highest one (who) wins it,” Brown said.
He said the Opera House Committee is now recommending putting it up for sale to see what kind of bid they get, along with some of their own ideas for stipulations.
“One condition if we sold it to someone would be they’d have to keep the clock and the bell running, we think that’s important,” Brown said.
Selling the building has been one of several options for what to do with the structure that has sat on its Franklin Street lot for more than 130 years. When the current committee was formed years ago, the goal was always full restoration but several studies revealed an unwieldy cost exceeding $2-3 million. Starting late last year, the committee began compiling options ranging from staying the course to demolishing the building and turning it into a park.
Any demolition or reworking of the grounds came with keeping the clock tower portion to preserve and/or relocate.
Brown mentioned a few of the other conditions the committee pitched to be in the deed: that the village retains ownership of the clock and bell, that the building is not used for apartments to avoid a potential slum downtown and that the village gets first bid on the building should the owner decide to sell it in the future. This is to ensure that they do not sell it to someone outside their control.
Council would have the ability to add or reject as many conditions as they want when creating the deed, with the only barrier that potential buyers may be dissuaded by a large amount of stipulations, Brown said.
Another recommendation from the committee is to replace the rafters (truss) to encourage potential buyers, Brown said. Council previously placed their $150,000 capital grant on hold for fixing the rafter to look at potential options. Brown said that money is still available, though he is not sure how much longer it can remain on hold. The grant was awarded but the committee was unsure how best to spend the funds saying it could be for replacement or put toward demolition.
Mayor Scott Jerew expressed concerns with putting money into the building if they are unsure how much they will get out of the sale.
“And if we fix a truss in it then we’re two years out before it goes up for sale,” Jerew said. “I don’t think we need to put a truss in it if we’re going to sell it.”
In response to the committee’s recommendations, Brown said that they will get in touch with Palmer and Preservation Ohio to get the stipulations done, but council did not choose to tap into the grant money to fix the truss at this time. Jerew said that they will look to see if they need to get the building appraised again.
While council was responsive to selling the building, no immediate action was taken.