Golden Park won’t be sold ... this year

Historic Golden Park, which the city was considering selling as surplus property, got a reprieve Tuesday afternoon, City Attorney Clifton Fay confirmed.

A deed restriction placed on the property around the time the stadium was built in 1926 prevents it from being used for any purpose other than recreation. In order for the city to sell the property, Columbus Council would have to request that the local legislative delegation put a bill before the General Assembly to remove the restriction.

“In 1925 the General Assembly restricted the use to park and playground purposes,” Fay said.

Council was going to be asked to declare the property surplus with an eye toward delayed making a decision on a proposal to put historic Golden Park on the auction block. But the discovery of the deed restriction caused the city to pull the item from Council’s agenda.

The earliest the city could act on the ballpark would be next year, if the General Assembly were to agree to remove the restriction.

The baseball park has been all but dormant since 2008, when the last minor league team left the city. Minor League teams had been playing there almost constantly since 1926.

The appraised value of the 5.5 acres of property, and the proposed starting bid price that had been planned, is $3.735 million. Even though the park is vacant, the city has had to spend about $83,000 a year on maintenance and utilities.

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 5:56 PM with the headline "Golden Park won’t be sold ... this year."