If designated as surplus, sale can go forward

The fate of the Ohio University Proctorville Center may be decided at a board of trustee meeting on Thursday or Friday.

Amongst the items on the OU Board of Trustees’ agenda is a resolution to seek approval to designate the center as surplus property.

“If approved, the location’s surplus designation would allow the university to explore the sale of the property,” the agenda item reads. “The Proctorville facility was established through donations to the Ohio University Foundation, and the university is continuing to discuss options with the donors to ensure their generosity will continue to support members of the Proctorville community.” 

The resolution continues that OU has “stated that any potential sale of the Proctorville facility would include multiple deed restrictions on the building that would require it to be sold to other educational entities for educational purposes and ensure that the naming rights of the original donors would be preserved, should the donors wish.”

The board of trustees will meet 9 a.m.–3:30 p.m. Thursday and from 9 a.m.–12:15 p.m. Friday on the Athens Campus. 

If the resolution is approved, the matter will then go to the Resources, Facilities, and Affordability Committee on Friday.

In an interview with The Ironton Tribune, Carly Leatherwood, the interim chief of staff for the Office of the president at OU, said that the decision to sell the Proctorville Center had been a topic of conversation and meetings for months and that it wasn’t something that the university entered into lightly. 

She said that declining enrollment at satellite campuses was something that has been occurring across the country.

“There have been multiple discussions with the staff at the Proctorville Center, we have reviewed our faculty use over the past several years and enrollment projections,” she said. “So the discussions ultimately lead to the decision we should pursue a sale based on the data we have.”

“There have been multiple discussions with the staff at the Proctorville Center, we have reviewed our faculty use over the past several years and enrollment projections,” she said. “So the discussions ultimately lead to the decision we should pursue a sale based on the data we have.”

OU Proctorville had its beginning in the mid-1970s, with classes being held at the Lawrence County Fairgrounds and then in a building in on Route 7 in Proctorville as student enrollment increased. 

As the need for a new building grew in the 1990s, the community raised money towards building a new facility and property was donated by Marshall Smith in 2000. In 2007, the Proctorville Center was opened.