COLUMBUS – The Ohio History Connection will open the Octagon Earthworks in Newark for full public access Jan. 1, 2025, after reaching a settlement with Moundbuilders Country Club to buy out its lease on the property.
The organizations have agreed to settle for a confidential sum, averting a jury trial in the Licking County Court of Common Pleas to determine the fair market value of the lease.
“Our guiding principles throughout this process have been to enable full public access to the Octagon Earthworks while ensuring Moundbuilders Country Club receives just compensation for the value of its lease on the property,” said Megan Wood, Executive Director and CEO of the Ohio History Connection. “And now we have accomplished those things.”
According to the terms of the settlement, the Ohio History Connection will gain the leasehold on the Octagon property Jan. 1. The country club has held a lease on the property since 1910; the Ohio History Connection was deeded the property in 1933.
“The New Year will bring a new era to the Octagon Earthworks and the Ohio History Connection,” said Charles R. Moses, President of the Ohio History Connection Board of Trustees. “We are excited the Octagon, which is one of the eight locations in the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, Ohio’s first and only UNESCO World Heritage Site, will be fully open to the citizens of Ohio – and the world.”
The Ohio History Connection began negotiating in January 2013 to provide full public access to the site, and a court case was initiated in 2018 to acquire the lease via eminent domain.
Licking County Common Pleas Judge David Branstool ruled in May 2019 the Ohio History Connection had the authority to acquire the lease and that the acquisition is both necessary and for a public use. That position was upheld by the Fifth District Court of Appeals before the case reached the Ohio Supreme Court on April 13, 2021.
On Dec. 7, 2022, the Supreme Court of Ohio upheld the decisions by the Fifth District and the Common Pleas Court, allowing the Ohio History Connection to proceed with its efforts to acquire the Octagon Earthworks lease and provide full public access to the site.
A jury trial in the Licking County Court of Common Pleas to determine the fair market value of the lease was scheduled to start in October 2023, but it was delayed once by an appeal of pretrial rulings made by Judge Branstool and twice more by negotiations related to the settlement.
“We look forward to partnering with the community to bring vibrant and meaningful visitor experiences to this remarkable place, and we plan to provide more details after we officially take possession of the leasehold for the property,” Wood said.
