ASHLAND — With help from two private entities, City of Ashland officials are preparing to raze two Covert Court houses.
Work should begin as soon as soon as the city secures the proper permits and gets the green light from the Ashland County prosecutor, Mayor Matt Miller said.
If all goes as planned, prosecutor Chris Tunnell says he will give the city permission to begin abatement and demolition immediately after the June 1 sentencing of convicted serial killer Shawn Grate. In the meantime, city engineer Shane Kremser is working to get the necessary permits in place.
A local contractor and another local entity offering financial support each have stepped up to assist the city in its plans to demolish the house at 363 and 365 Covert Court. The former was the scene of a majority of the crimes Grate committed in Ashland County.
Though Miller expressed gratitude for the help of the two anonymous private entities, he also emphasized the city planned to tear the houses down as soon as it acquired them through a foreclosure settlement. Ashland would have proceeded with demolition with or without financial support from private donors or from a grant the city previously applied for but did not receive.
“I think all of us in this community are eager to get this trial behind us and get these houses down,” Miller said.
Both houses were owned by Pump House Ministries in September 2016, when a woman called 9-1-1 from 363 Covert Court to report she had been abducted by Grate.
Shortly after the 9-1-1 call, Grate was arrested in the same house. The bodies of Elizabeth Griffith and Stacey Stanley were found in the home later that day.
Grate has been convicted of 23 felonies, including four counts of aggravated murder, in the Ashland County case. An Ashland County jury has recommended the death penalty. Grate also is expected to face charges in Richland County.
Miller said the short-term plan for the Covert Court properties is to fill the holes and convert the parcels to green space.
The property is part of a longer-term discussion about potential future uses for what Miller describes as the Pump House corridor. The area includes several pieces of land formerly owned by Pump House Ministries that has been foreclosed on or is currently subject to foreclosure.
The corridor has been identified as one of four areas to be included in a plan funded by the Ashland County Community Foundation and developed with help from Columbus-based architecture — as well as planning firm OHM Advisors.
Miller said a steering committee has been formed and has had an initial meeting about the targeted plan. The group identified the Pump House corridor, the South Street and downtown area, the I-71 and U.S. 250 corridor and potential future residential housing as the four priority areas for the plan.
