Council advances Mansfield House lease with visitor bureau; mayor seeks removal of tenant maintenance clause

The Athens City Council advanced a proposed lease for the Mansfield House with the Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau on first reading, after Mayor Steve Patterson said the bureau would pay $20,000 a year (about $1,666.66 per month) and that the administration wants to remove a tenant maintenance clause because the historic structure needs substantial repairs.

The move matters because the Mansfield House has been used by the visitors bureau since the early 1990s but, as Mayor Patterson told council, the city has not had a signed lease for the property since 1993 and the building requires investment to preserve its historic character.

Mayor Steve Patterson presented the lease proposal and explanation to council, saying the bureau has occupied the Mansfield House “since the early nineties” and that the draft lease would align the property with other leased spaces in the community center. Patterson said the agreement would be retroactive to Jan. 2, 2025, if adopted and that the bureau asked to remove the maintenance paragraph because the extent of structural repairs is beyond routine tenant maintenance. “We know that the Mansfield House needs a lot of repairs,” Patterson said, adding the city’s inspection found the required preservation work would likely cost in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars, and that the administration planned to fund structural work from other sources.

Member Jeff Reisner introduced the ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter the lease and explained it would be read as a second-reading item going forward. Reisner moved the matter forward and asked council to note the retroactive start date included in the draft. The ordinance (24-25) was read; council did not vote on final adoption that evening.

Council members asked for clarification about future uses once the visitors bureau moves to new space midyear; Patterson said the administration and the director of Arts, Parks and Recreation would seek a suitable end user while preserving the property’s historic restrictions. The mayor also said the Mansfield House would not be made ADA-accessible on its upper floor because deed and preservation restrictions would prohibit an exterior elevator that would alter historic integrity.

Patterson identified Barney Gruiser as having inspected the structure and described the building as an old log house that requires preservation work. The mayor said the visitors bureau expects to move out midyear to new offices on Stimson Avenue and that Project Plant (a local volunteer group) would continue to maintain the front gardens for as long as possible.

Council members did not take final action on the lease that night; the administration indicated it would present an amended lease removing the maintenance clause and return to council for consideration and possible suspension of rules on a future meeting date.

For now, the item remains at second reading with the mayor and administration continuing work on the amendment language and preservation plan.