3419 Ohio Highway 534, Southington, Ohio 44470, United States
Mission Statement: The Southington Community Trust, Inc. is formed to acquire, administer, preserve, interpret and display culturally and historically significant local resources to inspire people to explore and better understand local history within a larger context, and to enhance community quality of life through the promotion of cultural and recreational resources.
President: Susie Tietz…330-307-7754
Vice President: Mike Martin…330-898-4073
Secretary: Mary Shuster…330-898-4362
Treasurer: Lorri Mills…330-898-4398
Membership Chair: Cathy St. Clair…330-898-1952
Board Member: Pam Houser…330-898-0654
Meetings are held on the fourth Saturday of the month at the Town Hall at 9:00 am.
The newly organized Southington Community Trust invites anyone with a common interest in preserving the history of our township to join us.
Our goals include:
1. Coordinate with and support township officials and other local non-profit groups in administering important historic resources
2. The first project involves working to achieve the most productive re-use of the historic school site
3. Develop and administer a collection of objects, photographs and documents important to the Community’s history
4. Create a professional accession and conservancy policy to protect, interpret and display the collection 5. Develop small ‘traveling’ exhibits to for display in public buildings or local businesses
6. Eventually house the collection in a permanent local museum
As we move forward to achieve the goals outlined above, we are in the process of creating and implementing a policy to administer our currently small collection of books, documents, photographs and objects for future display. If you have questions about the collection or would like to discuss a possible donation, please contact one of the officers.
The most pressing current project involves a discussion with community officials about planning for the most productive re-use of the old school site as we celebrate the completion of the new school. This prominent and historic site should be thoughtfully integrated into the future development of the township. Our vision is for the development of a community park, playground and recreational area, enhanced with benches, tables and landscaping, which would complement the eventual use of the Chalker Building.
The retention and re-use of the 1907 elementary building is also being discussed. Although outdated and ill-suited for use as a school building, it has been evaluated and found sound and a good candidate for adaptive re-use. Possible future uses include office space, township records storage or housing community or county services. The conversion to another use can be achieved in phases.
Phase I tentatively includes installing a boiler system, electrical service and re-installing doors to the rear of the building. The cost has been estimated at between $30,000-$40,000 to complete-a bargain when considering the cost to replace a two-and-a-half story brick building of this quality. This cost could be reduced significantly with donated labor and materials. By achieving this, we can keep a historic and scenic site and enhance the vitality of the center of the community.
