2 days ago
Harrison County commissioners split on future of Sunset Ellis property
CLARKSBURG, (WBOY) — What does the future hold for the Sunset Ellis property in Harrison County? County commissioners each have their own opinions on the matter.
After coming out of executive session on Wednesday's county commission meeting, Commissioner Patsy Trecost made a motion to revoke the commission's offer to purchase the Sunset Ellis property, claiming that he believed the current owners had 'seller's remorse.'
In a discussion on the motion, Trecost continued that his reasoning was to 'let them continue on with their family tradition.'
The motion was also derived from a recent Facebook post that gained attention from the community.
The motion failed in a 1-2 vote.
Harrison County community pushes for restoration of Sunset Ellis Drive-In
Commissioner David Hinkle stated that the commission had looked into refurbishing the theatre screen, which was significantly damaged. Estimates for those repairs were around $500,000.
12 News spoke with Hinkle about his opinion of the best route for the future of the property.
'This gives the county an opportunity to develop some land that we've never had. We'll have over 40 acres and the potential to make 30 acres of usable land,' Hinkle said. 'What we did with people sending in what they love about the Ellis, I'd like to see them send in what they think they'd like to see as to do with the property once it's developed, get a sense of what the people of Harrison County would like to see there, because with that much land, we can offer a lot.'
During the discussion of the motion, Commission President Susan Thomas said that she would prefer to 'preserve the screen' if it was feasible, but would like to see numbers in regard to how many people visited the Sunset Ellis Drive-In last year.
Hinkle reiterated that the Harrison County Commission does not yet own this property despite their attempts to.
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