By Dean Narciso
The Columbus Dispatch Thursday October 10, 2013 5:39 AM
Step By Step Academy, an autism-treatment center in Worthington, plans to buy the nearly century-old home of a mental-health facility owned by Ohio State University.
The 45-acre Harding Hospital property at 445 E. Dublin-Granville Rd. is in contract for $4.5 million and contingent on a land transfer approved by state lawmakers. A Senate bill was introduced on Monday to begin that process.
The academy has leased property from Harding since 2002. A top-10 employer in Worthington, Step By Step includes 190 full- and part-time workers and has a $6 million payroll.
Step By Step estimates it will add 90 employees once the sale is completed, said attorney John Gleason.
The sale would allow Step By Step to house and treat autistic children on the campus, said Jeffry Harris, Worthington economic-development director.
About 14 children would live on the campus, said Gleason, with the goal of getting kids back to their families.
Since about 2000, OSU has downsized its psychiatric care at the facility, moving its emergency services to OSUs main campus.
The property, along with the former United Methodist Childrens Home, has been viewed as one of the last commercial redevelopment sites in the city. Harris said the expansion should generate new revenue for the city.
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Autism center set to buy Harding Hospital site in Worthington