UMO signs 10-year lease on library
By Steve Herring
Published in News on July 31, 2015 1:46 PM
MOUNT OLIVE -- The University of Mount Olive has signed a 10-year lease with Mount Olive for the former Steele Memorial Library building at the corner of North Chestnut and West James streets.
The lease is $750 per month and the university is responsible for all utilities, upkeep and maintenance.
The university has the option to buy the building at any time during the life of the lease, Town Manager Charles Brown said.
The first five years of lease payments would go toward the purchase, he said.
The town has set the purchase price at $176,000, the tax value of the building, Brown said.
"It is great to have them downtown," Brown said.
University of Mount Olive President Philip P. Kerstetter said he is excited about working with Mount Olive to utilize the old library building.
Plans have not been finalized on how the building will be used.
But it is the university's intention to move some of its campus offices there and for the Convention of Original Free Will Baptists to move its offices there as well.
"We are very appreciative of the town of Mount Olive allowing us to bring people and activities into the downtown area," Kerstetter said.
There had been some closed-door discussions about the lease as far back as this past December.
But the actual negotiations took place over the 60 days prior to the lease agreement, Brown said.
The lease signing comes a year after the new library building on West Main Street was dedicated.
The North Chestnut Street building began life as a savings and loan. It is approximately 1,800 square feet.
The town acquired the building in April of 1994 when Southern Bank and Trust Co. donated it to be used as a library building.