ATHENS, Ohio — Athens County is taking measures to preserve a historic barn in Sharpsburg, located along State Route 377.
At a special meeting July 22, the Athens County Land Bank Board of Directors unanimously approved a motion to enter into negotiations with the Nature Conservancy to divide the barn from the 123-acre property and transfer it, temporarily, to the land bank.
The negotiations would determine how much land is needed to protect the barn while ensuring that the Nature Conservancy’s goal of restoring the Opossum Creek watershed “isn’t harmed in any way,” Athens County Planner Connor LaVelle said at the meeting.
Sharpsburg and other Athens County residents brought the century-old barn to the county’s attention last year because an environmental restoration project by the Nature Conservancy included plans to tear it down. After its restoration, the property will become part of the Ohio Division of Natural Resources’s Gifford State Forest.
Land bank Chair and County Treasurer Taylor Sappington said at the meeting he would like to see the land bank transfer the property to an end-user by the end of 2027.
Athens County Land Bank Manager Aaron Dye said at the meeting that the barn’s end-user must be “a government entity or nonprofit with values that align with the Nature Conservancy.”
LaVelle shared notes about proposed ways to protect the barn long-term, such as a conservation easement or deed restrictions. LaVelle will handle the transfer negotiations, Commissioner and Land Bank Vice Chair Chris Chmiel said at the meeting. Chmiel also volunteered to serve as a point person on the project.
While county commissioner Lenny Eliason indicated his support for preserving the barn, he also raised concerns about the building remaining in land bank ownership indefinitely — as well as concerns about barn maintenance. Holding the structure for very long could present the county with liability, Eliason said.
Athens Conservancy Board President Kate Kelley said at the meeting that her organization has an interest in the project, as it is to become part of the state forest.
“We would love to see the property protected in support of what’s imagined,” Kelley said. “Unfortunately, we don’t typically take on property with structures. … I see it as an opportunity for the land bank to partner with other organizations and really show some extraordinary leadership there.”
Ohio Hill Country Heritage Area Vice President Tim Traxler said at the meeting that the barn is representative of Appalachian Ohio heritage. Preserving such heritage supports potential economic development, he said.
“These are assets that we often take for granted, such as this barn, and we think this is an opportunity to do something. … I don’t see where there’s anything to lose for taking this on by the land bank,” Traxler said.
Southeast Ohio History Center Director Emeritus Tom O’Grady voiced support for preserving the barn at the July 22 meeting.
“Preserving our buildings and repurposing them and using them is critical and we need to start somewhere,” O’Grady said. “And this barn — it represents what built Ohio. The barn was the most important building in the Ohio landscape for a century. It protected the harvest, it sustained societies and industry, and they’re disappearing every day, and we have an opportunity to kind of turn that around.”
All three organizations whose representatives spoke at the meeting — the heritage area, history center and conservancy — also submitted letters of support to the commissioners, according to a records request filed by the Independent. Friends of Ohio Barns, the Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Athens County Economic Development Council also sent letters.
According to records obtained by the Independent, LaVelle in September 2025 shared with the Nature Conservancy the county commissioners’ letter of support for preserving the barn.
The Athens County Land Bank Board meets 11 a.m. the third Wednesday of every month at the Athens County Courthouse, 15 S. Court St., 2nd floor annex, commissioners’ conference room, Athens, and Google Meet.
