NELSONVILLE, Ohio — The Nelsonville-York Innovation Center is projected to be completed in December 2027, and open to the public in January 2028.
Although the ceremonial ground-breaking occurred in August, rapid construction for the $11 million project is expected to begin in March 2027.
The idea for the Nelsonville-York Community Innovation Center arose after district administrators sought out a way to provide additional science, technology, engineering and math opportunities for students, and more workforce development resources for community members, Nelsonville-York City Schools Supt. Rick Edwards told the Independent.
Once the center opens, it will include not only space for STEM learning opportunities, but also a dental care office, a laundry center for students and their families, workforce development opportunities, and community resources. The building will be staffed by current Nelsonville-York employees, and will have potential partnerships with The Ohio State University, Hocking College, and Tri-County Career Center.
“Providing additional support for the needs of our families and our kids, that’s as much important to me as the [STEM] aspect of it,” Edwards said. “We just have families that need the support, and we’re going to be able to bring some of that stuff here on campus, and give kids life skill opportunities too.”
The center will also stock basic necessities, such as personal hygiene products. Along with this, educational opportunities at the center will include ways to gain credentials or certifications in manufacturing-related and industrial credentials, Edwards said.
“This project is about student health — and not just student health, but community health,” Edwards said.
A collaboration between the Nelsonville-York City School District and the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation, the foundation is funding the construction and furnishing of the building.
“You could feel the excitement,” Terri Donlin Huesman, the president and CEO of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation, said about the ceremonial ground-breaking in August. “I know that some of the students, the faculty, and staff that have worked so hard in visioning something like this.”
After grant funding for the project was initially rejected by the state three years ago, the concept came up again in a meeting between Edwards and Huesman in August 2025. After learning more details of the building’s future services and hopeful impact, the foundation decided to fund the building’s construction.
“[The project] really combined three important elements: education, workforce, and healthcare that aligned with the foundation’s mission and are clear needs in the Nelsonville community,” Huesman said.
The new building will expand the district’s school wellness partnership with the foundation. The partnership provides students with an on-campus community health worker, often organizing dental care and doctors appointments for students in need.
This project is the newest development in the foundation’s long-time presence and partnership in Nelsonville.
The Doctors Hospital of Nelsonville was acquired by the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation in 1980 and run by the foundation until its purchase in 1998 by OhioHealth. The hospital permanently closed in 2016, prior to the opening of OhioHealth Nelsonville Health Center.
