NEWARK, Ohio – The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the Ohio History Connection can take Moundbuilders Country Club under eminent domain. This would allow them to transform the property of the golf course, which also includes the Octagon Mounds from Newark Earthworks, into a public park.
The country club had exhausted all legal options to save its golf course when the Ohio Supreme Court denied their motion to reconsider its Dec. 7, 6-1 decision. This ruling upheld the Fifth District Court of Appeals verdicts and Licking County Common Pleas Court verdicts.
Megan Wood, OHC’s executive director and CEO, stated that the History Connection was ready for a longer waiting period to receive a ruling on Moundbuilders’ motion to reconsider. Next year, a decision would be made by Sharon Kennedy, the new chief justice. Sharon Kennedy was the only dissenting vote in Dec. 7’s decision. Maureen O’Connor is the current chief justice.
Wood stated that although we were ready for the process to take longer than expected, they are now ready to move on to next steps. Wood said that they were open to discussing the matter with the court that heard it first, but that they weren’t required to. They were not required.”
This decision will end four years of court battles. It will also close the chapter of decades of arguments and confrontations that erupted between those who wanted to increase public access to a historic site and those who wanted to keep it running as a private course.
This decision will allow for a jury trial at Licking County Common Pleas Court in order to determine the lease’s value and what OHC must pay Moundbuilders.
The Octagon Earthworks is part of Newark Earthworks. It is the largest set geometric earthen enclosures anywhere in the world.
Newark Earthworks is part the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks Nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage List. Inscription on the World Heritage List will highlight the cultural importance of the site and attract international attention. Next year, the nomination will be reviewed.
The alignment of the moonrise and Newark’s Octagon Earthworks. (Courtesy The Ancient Ohio Trail
The Ohio History Connection owns the site, and leases it out to Moundbuilders. They say that the public is only allowed four full access days each year, with no golf, for the purpose of visiting the mounds.
Wood stated that “This was a top priority for me.” It’s vital to have access. It is a sacred American Indian site. It is not an appropriate use of this site, regardless of whether it is a World Heritage site.
Joe Fraley, an attorney representing Moundbuilders Country Club said that the reconsideration was based upon new information. OHC had claimed it required control of the site in order to obtain World Heritage status, he said.
Fraley explained in his motion to reconsider that “the grounds for reconsideration are that, in reaching its decision regarding necessity, the trial court relied upon evidence which has been proven inaccurate” “Appellee stated it was necessary for appellant MCC to be taken by eminent domain as appellant could not and would not apply for World Heritage status if there were a golf course on the property.
“It is clear that the trial court relied heavily on this argument in arriving at its decision regarding the necessity of taking, and it was accepted by this court when affirming on appeal.”
In December 2021, OHC submitted the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks World Heritage Application to the U.S. Department of Interior. In March 2021, the U.S. Department of Interior proposed to UNESCO the designation of the site as World Heritage.
Eight archeological sites are part of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks group, which includes Newark Earthworks and Fort Ancient, both located between Cincinnati and Dayton, and the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, Chillicothe.
According to the Ohio History Connection, the pursuit of World Heritage status has no impact on the key questions regarding eminent domain that the court is facing and is an independent issue.
OHC stated that the court’s decision was based upon three facts: the plans to build a public park at the Octagon Earthworks site; that the park is a public use; that the appropriation is necessary since a private country club cannot host a public parks. These key elements are not affected by World Heritage considerations, according to the OHC.
OHC stated that “nothing in the motion of the country club provides any reason for the court to revisit those parts of its decision.” “The History Connection continues to seek to establish a park public, so its taking is just as important as ever.
“The answer from the country club was, for example that the presence on Octagon Earthworks site of the golf course was incompatible with the public park use. The court’s decision on planned park use is the basis of the reconsideration motion.
The Ohio History Connection (previously the Ohio Historical Society) filed a civil suit against Moundbuilders Country Club in November 2018. They wanted to purchase back the lease on the Newark property that has been used as a golf course since 1910.
According to the OHC, it had three goals.
- The Octagon Earthworks is open to the public
- “Preserve the original religious, ceremonial and cultural significance of this site.”
- Nominate it for the World Heritage list
The Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals denied a Moundbuilders appeal on Jan. 29, 2020. It also confirmed a May 10, 2019 decision of Licking County Common Pleas Court judge David Branstool, which stated that OHC was authorized to acquire the lease through eminent domain. In 1997, the 1957 lease was amended to provide a 50-year extension of lease. The lease had been due to expire in 2028 and would have to be renewed by OHC.
In July 2020, the Ohio Supreme Court voted 5-2 to hear the appeal of the Moundbuilders. Both sides presented their arguments to the justices in oral arguments in April 2021. Both sides waited for 20 months.
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Dec. 7, that “The Ohio History Connection presented evidence that it made an offer in good faith to purchase the Moundbuilders Country Club Company lease interest. However, the country club did not offer any other evidence than speculation to counter that evidence.
“Further the country club failed the statutory presumption, that the Octagon Earthworks created a public park and that the taking was necessary to that public use.”
Octagon Earthworks is a 50-acre enclosure with 8 sides. It has earthen walls measuring approximately 550 feet in length and 5-6 feet high. It was built between 1 and 400 A.D. and was part of the 4-mile Newark Earthworks complex, which was part cemetery, cathedral, and astronomical observatory.
The Octagon aligns with the four moonrises, moonsets, which mark an 18.6-year-long lunar circle.
The question that remains is: What will the property look like after the country club closes and it becomes a park for the public?
Senior archeologist at the Ohio History Connection Brad Lepper said that it won’t look like a golf-course, but it is being maintained.
Lepper stated that these sites are not meant to look like a course of golf. They are supposed to look like parks. It’s almost a grassland. Before the Earthworks, they were prairies. It was managed by American Indians.
Lepper stated that “people have tried to minimize it by saying that it’s just piles and dirt.” “That’s just as naive as saying the Parthenon is just one pile of stones.
