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Northwood High School invites you to dinner theatre The Northwood High School Drama Class will present a mystery dinner, "Clue?" on stage Feb. 10 at the school, 600 Lemoyne Road. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and a spaghetti dinner starts at 6 p.m. For ticket information call 419 691-3888 or email Lschumaker@northwoodschools.org. Pictured are principal players, Lamai Fox, Kennedy Brossia, Anthony Williams, Nevada Knisely, Joel Negrin, Kayla Powell and Logan McDermott. (Press photo by Ken Grosjean)
Oregon seeks developers for former Kmart site Oregon city council on Monday authorized a ground lease/purchase agreement for the former Kmart property located at 2830 Navarre Ave. for a 120 day due diligence period. The city wants to see the property developed as part of its downtown. “This is the next step in a due diligence process for the city to determine whether it wants to enter into a 10 year lease with an option at the end of the 10 years to buy the property for $3.7 million, with lease payments of approximately $300,000 per year during that 10 year period,” said City Administrator Mike Beazley. “The city does not need to make a decision to take this property. It’s just a step in our due diligence phase until April 26. So this is a process where we can take this action, and determine between now and April 26 whether we think that the cost of demolition, the interest and development, and our capacity to develop are practical to move forward. Then we have to make that decision by April 26,” said Beazley. During that time, the city will get engineering estimates for demolition to determine suitability for development, he added. “We will see proposals from develop-
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The community, almost since the day I walked in here, has expressed an interest in this sort of thing.
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By Kelly J. Kaczala News Editor kkaczala@presspublications.com
ers. Then we will make a decision between now and April 26 on whether we choose to move forward,” he said. Land assembly The city has reached out to local and regional developers, said Beazley. “We’ve had some good interest in it,” he said. “Our preference is to have multiple partners as we move forward. We are doing some land assembly. Our intention is to combine this with some other land. We have interest in seeing some residential, commercial, medical offices, and other development as well. Anytime a city takes an action like this, there’s risk involved in it. In terms of when we look at Oregon and
the challenges associated with it the last time we had a big box store go empty on Navarre, it sat empty for 15 years. So we understand the challenges with that. We believe though it’s best practice for cities to get control of the space. They can to go out and find developers rather than let it just sit dormant.” The city isn’t interested in developing the property on its own. Rather, they ware looking to bring partners to the table and bring some of the tools cities have to offer, such as tax abatement and Tax Increment Financing (TIF), said Beazley. “There’s opportunities that can bring some value there and create something,” said Beazley. “The community, almost since the day I walked in here, has expressed an interest in this sort of thing. I’ve heard it from council members, and some residents – to see what we could do together to bring development to our core. It’s fairly obvious to us on the city side that we need to do something, put something together that is essential to making it happen. We probably got 50 empty acres just sitting around in that core that have gone undeveloped. We think by bringing some tools, establishing the CRA (Community Reinvestment Area), by partnering with the schools, by moving forward with TIF opportunities, we can bring the infrastructure to make it practical to move forward.” Continued on page 2
Jeremy Walston, M.D., a 1979 Eastwood High School graduate, is an internationally recognized Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Walston plays a leading role in setting national and international research and patient care agendas for older adults through his Professorship at Johns Hopkins and through his many leadership roles in the Gerontological Society of America, the National Institutes on Aging, and international organizations such as the World Health Organization. His academic focus has been on the biological basis of aging, and on the development of studies that promote healthy aging. Dr. Walston will be inducted into the Eastwood Alumni Association’s Eagle Way Hall of Fame along with accomplished Midwestern artist Emanuel Enriquez (Class of 1966), decorated U.S. Army chaplain Colonel David Bowlus (1989) and long time community contributor Robert Bruning (Pemberville High School class of 1950. Walston grew up on the family farm on Zepernick Road near New Rochester (outside Pemberville) in Freedom Township, where he was surrounded by a large extended family network that included grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. He enjoys returning with his family to visit the farm and family members in the area. He acknowledges that the peacefulness of the Ohio landscape and early education that he received on the farm from his father and grandfather played a big role in his interest in biology, which eventually led him to the field of medicine. Besides family, Dr. Walston is quick to point out a number of educators who played a key role in his development while a student in the Eastwood School District. “I would say that my third grade teacher at Webster School, Mrs. Henschen stood out as supportive and caring and noticed Continued on page 2
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Students are participating in remarkable art programs and marching in dazzling bands. Chris Woolard See page 7