by Trish Rudder
Plans for the sale of the old Bath School Building on Green Street to a company that will renovate the old school into a recovery center is still being negotiated, county officials have said.
Morgan County Commissioner Sean Forney on Monday confirmed that the sale has not yet been finalized between Lotus Recovery and an unnamed buyer.
Last week a rumor was circulating in Berkeley Springs that the sale negotiations were over and the sale was not going to happen.
The county-owned Green Street property was purchased for $200,000 by Lotus in 2021. It is estimated renovations to the three-story school building will cost $3 million.
In November 2022, Forney had said Lotus told the Morgan County Economic Development Authority (EDA) that Lotus was selling the property and that the potential owner will construct the center to Lotus specifications.
Morgan County EDA director Lyn Goodwin had said the EDA terms were met and that the same clause was signed in a letter of intent from the potential owner that the facility cannot be used as an out-patient facility.
Goodwin had said that Mesveskas and Chris Eader, Lotus chief financial officer, have told county officials that the potential new owner has better financial ability to manage the construction costs than Lotus, and it would free up Lotus to concentrate on managing and operating the in-patient facility.
The three-story, 30,000-sq.-ft.-building will house nearly 100 patients for 30-to-60-day recovery programs.
Morgan County EDA director Lyn Goodwin said last week that Forney spoke with Mike Mesveskas, Director of Development for Lotus Recovery Centers, and said that the negotiations are still ongoing.
