Old Mount Sterling building makes way for Olson Playground
The old building as it looked before being torn down Friday. (Photo courtesy of Betty and Jack Olson)
The building came down rather quickly. (Photo by Ted Pennekamp)
By Ted Pennekamp
A Mount Sterling couple, Betty and Jack Olson, decided to tear down an old building they owned and donate the property to the town of Utica for a playground for younger children.
The building came down at about 6:30 the morning of Friday, June 11.
Nobody really knows the age of the building, but Betty and Jack say it was more than 100 years old, and one of the oldest buildings in Mount Sterling.
The building, located next to the Mount Sterling Shop and about a block away from the intersection of Highway 27 and W. First Street, was once a funeral home operated by Paul Dommernaes on Main Street near the Krogen Farm, recalled Jack.
The town of Utica purchased the building and moved it to what would become its last resting place. The town also added a furnace room, said Jack.
Jack said the building became a Utica Township repair shop. “Carol Helgerson overhauled caterpillars and graders there for years,” said Jack.
Jack noted that his mother and father, Minnie and Tillmon Olson, bought the building in August of 1976. Tillmon used the building as a storage facility. Jack and his brother, Elmer, inherited the building and property. Jack bought out Elmer in 1981.
“It is now the future home of Olson Playground for the children of Mount Sterling,” said Jack with a smile. “It is a nice location for a playground for the little kids because it is a ways away from busy Main Street.”
