Foreclosed!
In coming months, the Hall Theatre property at the corner of Eighth and West streets will have a new owner.
The Theatre building burned down on March 1, 2022, and the city of Cassville has about $125,000 sunk into the property for court-ordered demolition and environmental study costs. Since that work has been completed, the property was tied up in more than $340,000 in deeds, property taxes and civil judgments.
Jon Horner, Cassville mayor, said Arvest Bank was first on that priority list but gave up its position, moving Jerry James to the top of the list.
“We have to give a big thank you to Don Cupps, because we were way down on the priority list — like 14th or 15th and would have had to buy out hundreds of thousands of dollars prior to getting a judgment,” Horner said. When Arvest released its stake, Jerry moved to first, and Don talked to Jerry about assigning his position to the city.
“Jerry agreed to do that, so we assumed his lien and have foreclosed on the property.”
As a result of the foreclosure, the Barry County Sheriff is directed to sell the property at an auction at the Barry County Courthouse on July 31 at 1 p.m.
“Anyone can show up and bid,” Horner said. “I assume [the city] will be the high bidder, but there’s a chance someone could bid against us. If someone does, we would be hopeful they have something good in mind for the property.”
Horner said the buyer will also have to pay back taxes totaling about $13,000 to get a clean title.
“Once we own it, we can start the process of figuring out what we want to do,” he said. “And, we’re wide open on that right now. We hope to make a committee and get all kind of community input. We want to do something financially feasible, but also something that the residents want.”