MANSFIELD — Greg Baron came to a public meeting Wednesday evening to talk about a proposed affordable housing development for seniors on the site of the former Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center.
What the managing director of development for Wisconsin-based Volker got was a history and cultural lesson about the value of all the things that happened inside a now demolished century-old building — and what it meant to the north end community.
By the time the meeting ended, it was clear many of those in attendance believe the site that was once a community anchor in the north end deserves to be more than a residence for seniors, expressing a desire for youth services.
It was also clear many didn’t feel the need to be rushed into a decision regarding the development of the site where the iconic building was closed in 2020 and then demolished in 2023.
The Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center
The century-old building on the property was named for Ocie Hill, the first Black resident to be elected to Mansfield City Council. Hill was also the longest serving individual on council in the history of Mansfield, serving from 1961 to 1991.
Throughout the years, the structure had been known as the Creveling School, the Mansfield Opportunities Industrial Center, the Human Resource Bureau and the Neighborhood Youth Corps.
The City of Mansfield purchased the building in 1988 and it was home to more than a dozen non-profit and government agencies.
It also had a gymnasium used by children and hosted after school-programs like the Culliver Reading Center.
The city closed the building in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and it never reopened.
At the time, then-Mansfield Mayor Tim Theaker said he was not optimistic the building could be saved, saying estimates to replace the boiler, windows, doors and other required work could cost several million dollars.
Mansfield City Council voted in 2021 to give the property to the Land Bank, which demolished the building in 2023.
The Richland County Land Bank, which now owns the two parcels at 455 Bowman St., arranged the meeting at the North End Community Improvement Collaborative building on Springmill Street.
Officials said they wanted public comments about the proposed redevelopment of the property before the Land Bank made a decision on selling the land to Volker, a sale contingent on the company receiving tax credits from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency to help fund the project.
A packed house at the NECIC facility was happy to oblige during a 75-minute meeting that also included Land Bank board chair Bart Hamilton and Mansfield Mayor Jodie Perry.
Baron said Volker is operating under a tight timeline to acquire the property and apply for the state tax credits needed to build an independent, senior housing complex with one- and two-bedroom units available to individuals 55 and older.
Baron said units would be available to households earning between 30 and 80 percent of the average median income on the 3.7-acre site.
He said the company needs to apply for the state financing by Aug. 14, which means the Land Bank must make a decision on the sale in the next few weeks.
Some in attendance felt that was unreasonable.
“This feels rushed. We are not on your timeline,” one resident said in response, a thought echoed by others.
Hamilton, the Richland County treasurer, cautioned those in attendance that “these kinds of (development) opportunities” don’t often come around.
He pointed to an NECIC survey in 2023 on the future of the site that found senior housing was at the top of the list.
More than one in five respondents said they’d like to see senior housing on the lot, while 16 percent said they’d like to see low-income housing.
Other popular responses were a grocery store (14 percent), impact center (8 percent) community garden (7 percent) and market-rate housing (6 percent.)
Several people who spoke Wednesday acknowledged the need for affordable housing for seniors. But they also spoke of the need for places for young people to gather, something that happened daily at the former Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center.
News of potential development broke June 9
The first public discussion of the Volker proposal came during a Land Bank board meeting June 9.
A Land Bank board member, Perry asked at the board meeting about Volker’s knowledge of the north end neighborhood.
Baron said his team had read news articles about the area and believed it meets the guidelines for state tax credits, but that working with local community stakeholders would be part of its development process.
Perry said, “It just seems maybe a little backwards to be making an offer when you don’t know the neighborhood that you’re trying to go into yet.”
The board chose to table that offer for further discussion after a near-hour long executive session.
The Land Bank board then arranged the public-input session Wednesday, which was attended by several board members and also Mansfield City Council representatives.
Many of those in attendance clearly recalled previous public discussions about the future of the site.
North end residents frustrated with closure in 2020
The city’s decision to close Ocie Hill in 2020 was met by anger and frustration from north end residents, who made their voices heard during a City Council meeting at the time.
When the site was permanently closed, mayor Tim Theaker’s administration said the city would unveil a plan to replace the building, whether it was with an existing structure or a new one.
That never happened and Theaker left office at the end of 2024.
(Photos from a public meeting Wednesday evening at the North End Community Improvement Collaborative building at 486 Springmill St. on the potential development of the former Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center in Mansfield. The story continues below the photos.)
At the time of the clousure, then-4th Ward Councilman Alomar Davenport said something must be found to replace the neighborhood center.
“Anyone who has spoken to me for the last eight months knows my feelings on Ocie Hill. Ocie Hill is a staple of our community. Not so much the building, but what the building represents,” Davenport said when the city administration’s decision was made.
“We cannot continue to lose things in the north end. We cannot continue to lose resources in the north, and they not be replenished. I will spend the remaining three years and 10 months of my term making sure that building is replaced, that we continue those services that are currently being provided in that building,” Davenport said in 2020.
NECIC announces plans for community center
The NECIC has tried to help fill that void.
It purchased the Springmill Street property in 2021 and worked on plans to transform it into a larger, more modern community impact center through renovations and additional construction.
In March 2022, NECIC’s board publicly announced its vision — a $16 million facility that would fill the void left by the closure of the former Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center.
The proposed facility would include resources like a community room, gymnasium, theater, classrooms, a computer lab and leasable space for businesses — just to name a few.
Mansfield City Council had pledged $1.5 million in May 2022 toward the project, using American Rescue Plan Act. But ARPA guidelines require funded projects to be complete by 2026.
The NECIC is still trying to raise funds for the project, pushing it beyond the ARPA timelines and the city reallocated those funds in September 2024. The future of the site is still in doubt.
In October 2024, NECIC announced founder and CEO Deanna West-Torrence would be stepping down, with Tony Chinni serving as interim CEO during the transition.
West-Torrence announced at the time she was moving to California to be closer to family.
At that time, the NECIC Board also announced the formation of a transition committee with the goal of having a new permanent CEO in place by July 1, 2025. That goal was met June 4 with the selection of Matthew Scruggs.
The NECIC board also announced West-Torrence had formally stepped away from her active role as founder of NECIC and would no longer serve in any official capacity.
Scruggs attended the meeting Wednesday and said the impact center was still in the works.
“We are going to do the community center,” he said. “But it’s going to have to be done in stages.”
Some in attendance, including former Mayor Don Culliver and former Mansfield NAACP President Leonard Dillon, said they understood resident concerns. But both also indicated any re-development of the site would require money and the planned senior citizen development should be considered.
Mayor says development proposal not a done deal
One resident said it seemed like the Volker proposal was a “done deal.”
Perry, a Land Bank board member, quickly replied it was not and that no Land Bank vote had been taken on the sale.
During the June 9 meeting, Perry expressed concern about inconsistency with the board’s development approach for large properties.
“We said we wanted to do RFPs for large parcels of land — the Y, Ocie Hill and Westinghouse,” Perry said, citing conversations with the land bank board’s development committee.
“We’re either going through a process or we’re not,” the mayor said.
Perry said she’d like to give other developers the chance to submit ideas and include more community feedback.
“This is nothing against Völker,” Perry said at the Land Bank board meeting. “I have spoken with Greg (Baron). I think they are very able developers. They’re people I would love to work with and we have talked about other parcels.”
