The case to demolish Hometown Auto building. A big weekend for MHS athletes & show choir. And the debut of the 43040 price check!
Give us a few moments and we'll serve up what matters on Thursday, March 6, 2025
In this edition:
A big weekend for MHS athletes and show choir
The case to tear down Hometown Auto
The Silver Screen Players are preparing their next production
And our 43040 price check debuts!
City will make case to demolish Hometown Auto building
City officials will present their case to demolish the Hometown Auto building at 120 South Plum Street next week.
The Marysville Design Review Board is bringing the matter back after tabling it at a prior meeting for further evaluation by City planning staff.
Both an independent architect and the City Fire Marshal say the site is ripe to be ripped down.
Above: The interior of the main floor at 120 S. Plum (Source City DRB packet)
“It is my opinion that the existing building is in major disrepair. I don’t see any value in saving the building or part thereof. The floors are collapsing, almost every wall is bowed out and the roof structure has many issues,” wrote architect Shawn McAllister
Marysville Fire Marshal Keith Watson wrote up a report following a February 21st inspection of the site.
“The roof is leaking in multiple places causing ceiling tiles to fall,” Watson stated in his report. “This particular roof is bowstring construction, which poses a substantial risk to building inhabitants and firefighters. It is common in this type of roof structure for complete failure of the structure if a single truss fails. The multiple visible failures would constitute replacement of the entire roof structure.”
He also noted the floor support system in the building is rotted and rusted away.
Above: Pictures of deterioration in the basement of the Hometown Auto building (Source: City DRB packet)
“This would lead me to believe that the floor structure is unsafe.”
Watson’s conclusion was to fix these issues, if feasible, or demolish the building to remove the hazards.
Efforts to shore up and repair the aging Town Run that snakes underneath the property are also considerations for the DRB to consider.
City staff say in their report that a portion of Town Run adjacent Hometown Auto is considered to be in poor condition.
“The City has plans to repair the Town Run and in order to replace the Town Run (8'x12’ concrete box culvert) that currently supports portions of this building, selective demolition would need to occur at a width of approximately twenty (20’) feet through the entirety of this building.”
Design Review Board members need to sign off since the building is part of the Historic district uptown.
The DRB meets next Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.
MHS pumped up for big weekend
Not only does Marysville High School host its Show Choir Show Case invitational this weekend, but the school district is also sending boys & girls wrestling and boys bowling teams to OHSAA State Championships.
That’s according to a note sent out to parents from Athletic Director Joey Day.
MHS is hosting a “State Clap Out” this afternoon for the student athletes. They’ll be escorted around the building by the Marching Monarch drum line.
And Marysville Police will provide a police escort out of town for both groups as they depart the high school.
Wrestling teams depart at 8 a.m. on Friday morning. The Bowling team departs at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning
The community is invited to participate by lining Amrine Mill Road to cheer the athletes on as they depart both mornings.
Board of Elections reappoints leadership
The Union County Board of Elections reappointed Brandon Clay as Director and Michelle Forrider as its Deputy Director on Wednesday, according to the Board’s Facebook page.
Rich Coglianese and Fred Vogel are the newest members of the Board, joining Dean Cook as the Chair and Barbara Luke.
The Ohio Secretary of State appoints new members and requires a reorganizational meeting.
Marysville housing market remains “very competitive”
Marysville home prices might be cooling a bit.
According to real estate firm Redfin, the median sale price for a home in Marysville dropped 13.9% year-over-year in January. 21 homes sold in January, up from 16 last year. The median number of days on the market for single-family homes dropped by 4 days year-over-year to 64 days in January.
Redfin says 19% of homes locally sold above list price in January.
The firm rates the Marysville housing market as “Very Competitive.”
From December 2024 to February 2025, Redfin logged more searches from Cleveland and New York City than any other location by prospective home buyers looking at Marysville.
Cautious optimism for local farmers heading into spring
Ohio farmers, including those in Union County, are keeping a sharp eye on both the weather and the economic impact of tariffs being imposed by the Trump administration against Canada and Mexico.
Ty Higgins, with the Ohio Farm Bureau tells us that the tariffs implemented this week by the administration will have minimal impact.
He said many of the inputs for the 2025 growing season, including seed, was purchased late last year.
“So, the tariffs that may be imposed will have little impact with what is planted this spring,” Higgins said. “The only input that may be affected is a fertilizer called potash, which we import from Canada.”
As for Mother Nature, farmers are looking forward to better conditions than they faced last season, when one of the worst droughts in the last 30 years hit the area.
“Farmers are cautiously optimistic as we head into the planting season,” Higgins told us. “Winter has given us quite a bit of moisture for our soils to recover from the deficiencies of 2024.”
And Higgins says farmers are keeping a close eye on potential impacts of DOGE and what its activities could mean for agriculture.
“We continue to push Congress for a new farm bill that will strengthen the crop insurance and safety net programs to give the farmers the certainty they need to grow food, fiber and fuel in a very risk-heavy environment.”
710 Union County farm families are Farm Bureau members. The Ohio Farm Bureau has 61,000 members across the state.
43040 Price Check
It seems like many folks are pinching pennies these days.
Saving money matters to residents in Marysville, so we thought it might be interesting to do a local price check on some key staples on store-brand products, not name brand.
Here’s what our shoppers found on Tuesday:
We’ll check in on the local check-out line in the near future to spot any trends.
Silver Scene Players set to take the stage later this month
The Marysville-based Silver Scene Players are preparing for their next big show.
March 21-23, the SSP will present “The Play That Goes Wrong” at the Union County Veterans Memorial Auditorium.
Proceeds from the show will benefit the Union County Humane Society.
For the past decade, the group has been putting on shows and donating 100% of collections to local charities.
They try to change up the beneficiaries, according to Director John Heflin.
“The charity changes each time and the publicity for them generates not only funds but volunteers and awareness,” he told us.
SSP has raised more than $45,000 for local charities through its presentations.
He said they chose the Humane Society this year because they are overloaded with dogs and cats.
“They place 100% of the adoptable pets in their care and are generally wonderful people,” Heflin said.
Tickets for the upcoming production are available online, with shows at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22. A 2 p.m. matinee will be held on Sunday, March 23.
As for the upcoming production?
The Play That Goes Wrong has been continuously running in London’s West End Theater District (their version of Broadway) for the past 10 years and still going.
“Silver Scene Players loves the show not only for its wince-induced laughter but for its heart,” Heflin says. “The show is a love letter to the resilience of the human spirit when there is nothing else to do but just keep going.”
SSP actors range in age from their early 20’s to their 70’s and are all from the local area.
“They are engineers, IT guys, schoolteachers, police officers, and well diggers,” he says.
Silver Scene Players believes that community theater is a fantastic tool to foster a greater community.
“We help each other, laugh together, and support each other, no matter what goes wrong.”
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