The Sherrodsville, Ohio resort, which includes a lodge, par-3 golf course, and clubhouse, was purchased by Billy Burns, an engineer, from Carroll County. Burns said he had no firm plans for the lodge, but would provide more details in the near future.
Atwood Lake Resort in Sherrodsville, Ohio has a new owner, following an auction on August 10, the Canton (Ohio) Repository reported.
At least seven bidders were registered for the auction, conducted by Kiko Auctioneers and Realtors of Canton. The property sold for $1.1 million to Billy Burns, who said he was an engineer from the Youngstown area. Speaking after the sale, Burns said he had no firm plans for the lodge at the moment, but would provide more details in the near future, the Repository reported.
The 76-acre property includes the lodge, a par-3 golf course and a chalet clubhouse. It is currently owned by Carroll County, the Repository reported.
Gene Kiko conducted the auction in the lodge’s dining room before a capacity crowd of onlookers. “This is not only the focal point of the lake, this is the focal point of Carroll County,” he told prospective buyers before the auction began. “If this was run properly, this could be a focal point, this could be a mainstay, this could be a place you come to. But it needs to be managed and it needs to be run. Not that they (the county) didn’t do it, but government’s hands are tied, really tied, and limited in what they can do. But a private entrepreneur can change this.”
The lodge closed on March 19 when Radius Hospitality of Canton, which operated the facility, told commissioners that it was no longer economically feasible to maintain it because of the downturn in the oil and gas industry, the Repository reported.
The lodge was built by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) in 1965 but closed in 2010 amid mounting losses. After briefly considering demolition of the building, the MWCD board decided to donate it to Carroll County. The donation include the mineral rights to the property. The mineral rights and 400 acres of land near the lodge were returned to the MWCD in a deal with commissioners that was reached in June, the Repository reported.
“We’re so happy right now for the people of Carroll County,” Commissioner Jeff Ohler said after the sale. “I’m relieved that the county is no longer in the hotel business and we’re moving it to a private entity, which it should be. The other thing I’m thankful for, we got through this and it didn’t cost the county taxpayers a dime. We’re thankful for that. So we met all of our goals.”
Ohler estimated that the closing on the property would take place within 45 days. Commissioners will meet today to approve the purchase agreement and then turn it over to Kiko to handle the details of the closing. The commissioner speculated that the new owner is connected to the DeBartolo family of Youngstown. The DeBartolos are shopping mall and real estate developers, the Repository reported.
John Hoopingarner, the MWCD’s executive director, pledged that the conservancy district would be a good neighbor to the new owner. “We will cooperate any way we can,” he said.
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