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July 22, 2004
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July 22, 2004 |
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Antioch University to sell property next to Commons
Antioch University plans to place G. Stanley Hall Hall on the market to raise funds for Antioch College. Some at the Antioch School, which borders the empty building’s property, are worried that development on the land could change the grade school’s character. Last month, the Antioch University Board of Trustees agreed to sell G. Stanley Hall Hall, a dilapidated Antioch College building, and its surrounding area, which totals 8.1 acres and borders the Antioch Commons, or golf course. Financial challenges at the college dictate that the university will seek the highest bid for the land and the proceeds to the college, Antioch University Vice Chancellor Glenn Watts said on Monday. The sale of the building hinges on the university’s ability to change the zoning of the parcel from its educational zoning to residential, Watts said. Though a developer will decide what kind of housing the property is best suited for, Watts said, the university anticipates the property could “easily accommodate” 10 lots similar to properties on Allen Street. Restrictions on the property give the Antioch School the first right of refusal, meaning that if the grade school can compete with the highest offer, the school has the first opportunity to purchase the property. The university hasn’t set an asking price, Watts said. According to information on the Greene County auditor’s Web site, the land has an appraised value of $64,000, and the building is valued at $107,000. Students and teachers at the Antioch School have been using the Hall Hall property as “an extension of the classroom” ever since the campus was established there in 1953, Antioch School Manager Dianne Collinson said last week. Children from nursery school age to the sixth grade use the field with its grasses, pines and shrubs for environmental study, storytelling expeditions and play in one of their favorite retreat spots, the Enchanted Forest. The university parcel sits in the Antioch School’s backyard, and anything that happens to the land will greatly affect the students, their activities and possibly even enrollment, Collinson said. The school’s driveway, which the Antioch School has used and maintained for the past 50 years, cuts across the university parcel and might be threatened if the land is sold and split, Collinson said. “We love that corner, we love that area, and it’s really important to us because it helps us define the character of the school,” Collinson said. “We want to preserve the corner as it is in terms of no development.” Since the university notified the Antioch School two weeks ago of its intention to sell, the Antioch School’s board has been weighing its options. Board president Carolin Mullin declined to comment on the school’s available resources, saying that the board has not had an opportunity to meet with university officials yet. Antioch School leaders were in the process of considering launching a capital campaign to pay for facility improvements. Though they have not had a chance to consider fundraising to purchase additional property, Mullin said, the school could use more room and a new multipurpose space. Currently, the school’s students, who number 70 to 75, use the art and science room as a lunch room, and they trek across the field to use Antioch College’s gym, pool and performance space. The educational zoning of the Hall Hall property limits Antioch University’s use of the property principally for campus use or a public or community use, Village Planner Phil Hawkey said. In order to change the zoning, the university would have to get approval from Village Council and the Village Planning Commission. The process would involve several public hearings. Rezoning the property, if begun immediately, would take at least four months, said Hawkey, who could not comment on the likelihood of its passage. Watts said that university officials are open to considering a dual purpose use for their property that would benefit both Antioch University and the Antioch School. They would entertain the option of selling the land that fronts Allen and Corry Streets for housing and keeping several acres toward the back of those parcels for the Antioch School to use, Watts said. G. Stanley Hall Hall has been vacant since 1985, when Antioch College moved its business office onto main campus. The building is in serious disrepair and it would take “a considerable amount of money” to renovate it, Watts said. The university has been approached by a community group interested in the land, he said, though no official offers have been made. Watts declined to identify the group or say what it wanted to do with the land. The Hall Hall property is the second parcel Antioch is trying to sell. Last year, the university placed on the market Birch III, a 22-acre parcel on the south end of town. Watts said that Antioch is still searching for a buyer. |
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