Hale House auction nets $32,500 for Coshocton land bank
COSHOCTON − An auction of items from what was known as the Hale House brought in $32,500 for the Coshocton County Reutilization Corporation, commonly referred to as the land bank. The auction was estimated to generate $20,000.
Mayor Mark Mills said there were a lot of local lookers, but most of the serious bidders were from out of town. He said the single item that went for the most money was a Rand McNally Official Hotel tin sign at $7,400.
Up for bid were tin toys, Coca-Cola memorabilia, old vending machines, antique coffee grinder, baseball cards, lunch boxes, movie posters, corn grinder, a print die for the Coshocton Tribune from April 21, 1968, and much more. The auction was held Aug. 20 at the Coshocton County Fairgrounds.
"The people who were there really knew what they were there for," Mills said. "It was a lot of people who knew what they were looking for."
Out of the money generated, $5,300 went to auctioneer Paul Bratton as his commission and $420 were for his workers to help organize and run the auction. The remainder will go into the land bank coffers to buy property and for other needs.
For September, the land bank account had $153,593.61. Recent expenses were $25,830.40 to BJAAM Environmental for work at the former Custom Glove Factory at 421 S. Fifth St. and $560 to Tumblin Fence Company to secure a fence around the property.
The home at 1802 Chestnut St. was once owned by the late Jim Hale, former proprietor of the Pastime Theater. It was acquired by the land bank in March and has since been torn down. The vacant lot was bought by adjacent property owners Richard and Debbie Taylor. It was the site of the rape and murder of Brianna Ratliff in April 2021.
Also found in the Hale home not in the auction were two 35mm film canisters containing a documentary from 1940 called "The Coshocton Story." It was last screened in 1970 at the Pastime Theater, according to an old newspaper clipping Coshocton County Treasurer Janette Donaker has. It features interviews with school children, church members, service groups, Main Street business owners, city officials and others. Donaker said they have yet to find someone who can digitally convert the movie.
The old Pastime Theater building at 538 Main St. was acquired summer 2021 by the Coshocton Port Authority and is being remodeled into the Coshocton Collaborative. It will be a unique maker space, business incubator and co-working facility, while also providing office space for the port authority and other entities. It's hoped the theater area in the future can be revived as well for plays, concerts and movies.
The next land bank meeting will be at 1 p.m. Oct. 17 in the office Coshocton County Commissioners.
Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with close to 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.
This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Hale House auction nets $32,500 for Coshocton land bank
