Historicโ Molly Stark Sanatorium Demolition to Begin in Starkโข County
Canton, Ohio – Demolition is imminent at the long-abandoned Molly Stark Sanatorium in Stark County, marking the end of an era for the historic, yet deteriorating, structure. Stark Parks officials confirmedโข the contractorโค is โคon-site and workโ isโ expected โฃto begin within the next day or two.
For decades, the sanatorium has stood as a โstark reminder of Stark County’s past, โdrawing both curiosity and concern due to its increasingly unsafe condition. Stark Parks acquired the property with plans to transform โthe grounds into public park space, but the extensive disrepair of the building itself presented important challenges.โ Theโข demolition represents a culmination of planning and a necessary step toward revitalizing the area for community use.
“It’s โคbeen a huge priority,” said Dan Moeglin, executive director at Stark Parks. Developers had previously determined that restoring or renovating the building was financially unfeasible, citing a โคcaved-in roof, โextensive wildlife habitation, and the overall โคimpact of decades of natural โฃdecay.
The cost of simply preventing access to the dangerous property has been โsignificant. โ”It’s in โthe hundreds of thousandsโ of dollars that we’ve spent in terms of staff โtime from keeping people from getting themselves hurt,” explained Sarahโ Buell, Capital Projects and Planning Manager at Stark Parks.
Following demolition, Stark Parksโ intends to convert the grounds into โฃa new park area. “We’re โgoing โto green this space up, reuse the entire grounds as some kind of park activity,” moeglin stated.
News 5 initially โคconducted interviews for this story inโข Februaryโค 2025 but delayed publication at the โขrequest โof Starkโ parks toโค deter trespassing until a firm demolitionโฃ dateโฃ was established.
