“That’s a lot of money,” he added. “So I think they want to make sure they get the right location.”
But Heitz said there has been no state offer to him for the property, and there are no active negotiations. He indicated there has been no communication with the state since then.
“They’re looking for a hospital in the Dayton region,” Heitz said. “Our site came up there. I know they’ve been looking at a lot of other sites there. But they haven’t made a commitment yet.”
Messages have been sent to representatives of Gov. Mike DeWine’s office and the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, the state’s purchasing arm.
“We have nothing in writing from them,” Heitz said. “Nothing.”
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Credit: Tom Gilliam
The city of Trotwood made public on its Facebook page Friday a letter opposing any notion of locating a proposed state mental health facility in Trotwood or on the former Hara Arena site.
Trotwood City Manager Quincy Pope told the Dayton Daily News he understands from Heitz that state leaders are considering the property as the site of a new behavioral health hospital.
But Heitz indicated Monday that a state purchase of the property is far from imminent, if it happens at all.
DeWine told the newspaper last June that he expects the state to build a mental health-focused hospital in the Dayton area in the coming years. No proposed location for the site has been publicly announced.
“I posted it (the letter) because I want people to know I’m transparent,” Pope told the Dayton Daily News Friday. He said he has distributed the letter “everywhere,” to state representatives and public stakeholders, among others.
Pope said he is concerned about what he fears are plans to build on the land that once was home to long-demolished Hara, which was heavily damaged in the 2019 Memorial Day tornadoes before being demolished.
In early 2020, the former Hara Arena land was rezoned from recreational to light industrial uses.
Heitz said he hopes to advertise the property as a JobsOhio-approved site.
About a third of the land is in Harrison Township. The site is more than 120 acres. Hara closed in 2016, ending 50 years as a performance and event site.
Heitz is no stranger to Dayton. He has purchased other local properties — such as the Rita Construction building in North Dayton, a former inn at Wagner Ford Road off Interstate 75 and the old Executive Lodge at 2401 Needmore Road — in tax lien sales.
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