Carlisle partnership hailed by state

CHILLICOTHE – The partnership involved in rehabilitating the Carlisle building is being held up as a success story in an annual report from a state agency.

In the JobsOhio 2014 Annual Report/2015 Strategic Plan, two full pages are devoted to the project in what is labeled as the "First JobsOhio Revitalization Program Project Success."

The presentation includes a summary of the partnership between JobsOhio. Cleveland-based developer the Chesler Group and Adena Health System, a timeline of key events in the partnership and a look at some of the strategies for 2015 that can be followed by projects across the state to achieve a similar result.

The Carlisle, since being badly damaged by fire in the spring of 2003, has gone through several starts and stops in the quest to restore the historic building to its previous splendor. The more time that passed without any significant progress, the more the debate grew over whether to hold out hope for preservation or whether it was time to demolish the structure.

Enter the partnership discussion in January 2014, followed in February of that year by JobsOhio committing financing through a combination loan and grant that filled a roughly $1.5 million funding gap. That same month, Adena Health System provided the last piece by signing a 15-year lease to become the building's major tenant for both business operations and residential space for medical students.

JobsOhio also credits Chillicothe and the Chillicothe-Ross Community Foundation as playing partnership roles in the project.

"This project is the first to benefit from the JobsOhio Revitalization Program, which was designed to support the acceleration of redeveloping sites in Ohio," the report reads.

The report says the building constructed in 1885 is considered a "prime location for job creation and new capital investment."

The reopening of the Carlisle building is expected before the end of this year.