A Spring Grove man who offered to buy the historic Memorial Hall for $230,000 from the village of Richmond with plans to rehabilitate it and turn it into a concert venue rescinded his offer last week, citing pushback from the public on social media.

Richmond Village President Craig Kunz said village staff analyzed the online petition, organized to persuade officials to keep the 115-year-old Main Street structure in the village’s hands, and found it was supported almost entirely by people who live outside the municipal boundaries.

Staff told Kunz 14% of the more than 300 people who said through the online petition they are concerned with the village selling the property live in Richmond.

The village is exploring a sale because the building needs to be renovated and it would cost more than $100,000 to do so, Kunz said. The hall hasn’t been financially self-sustaining for quite some time, with fewer than 150 days of rentals total over the five years before the COVID-19 pandemic.

John Bilik, the Spring Grove resident who expressed interest in purchasing Memorial Hall, pulled back before a Thursday village board meeting, at which his offer could have been approved.

“There is abundant negativity with regard to this sale,” Bilik wrote on the Facebook group page. “This was not underhanded, nor an improper offer. We had simple and clear plans for the project, despite what some may think. We have rescinded our offer. I wish the best of luck to the village.”

Bilik said he wanted to bend the venue toward blues and local talent. But once he started getting what he said were “nasty” messages from people, and was called a “greedy businessman,” he decided to back out.

“It was an exciting prospect, and I thought it could be a fun project that would bring everyone some joy while helping the village keep the building viable without having to worry about the cost,” Bilik said.

People who organized a Facebook page called “Saving Richmond’s Historic Memorial Hall” came out against the sale, saying they wanted it to stay a publicly owned facility and would rather attempt to raise funds to upgrade it through donations and grants.

“He was going to put the building back on the property tax rolls. He was going to invest money in the renovation of the building, which it needs, without using taxpayer dollars. By having a live music venue, he was going to bring in people from outside the village,” Kunz said of Bilik’s plan.

Kunz, who is running to be a trustee in the April 6 election instead of seeking another term as village president, supported moving forward with the sale to Bilik.

Allison Kessel Clark, who is against selling Memorial Hall to a private party, said she is frustrated with village leaders who pointed out the opposition to a sale is being backed mostly by residents of areas outside Richmond.

Clark, who is a Hawthorn Woods resident, said she grew up in Richmond and pays the taxes owed by her 81-year-old mother, who is a Richmond resident. She said she the village board should give weight to the perspectives of people in the surrounding area with ties to Richmond.

“I’m shocked and disappointed that so many voices are dismissed. Richmond is alive because of people driving through on their way to Lake Geneva,” Clark said. “There is a lot more here than just residents paying taxes, and I think it’s dismissive and disappointing that the board wants to turn it like that.”

Many on the Facebook page decried the village board’s process for informing the public about its intent to sell Memorial Hall, which was built as a gift to the village with funding from a family member of Richmond founders, according to the village website.

“It has always been the heartbeat of village affairs – just as the original purpose of such a building had been defined in the will of Charles DeWitt McConnell filed September 5, 1903. He was the grandson of William McConnell, the first settler of Richmond,” Irene Borre, a lifelong resident of the Richmond area who died at 96 in 2017, wrote for the village website.

McConnell dedicated $10,000 for the construction of Memorial Hall, which he said should be used as a village meeting space and for church and school functions, Borre wrote.

Over time the building served as Richmond’s police department headquarters, a public library and a food pantry, and more recently, it was marketed by the village to rent for weddings, performing arts shows and other functions.

With no offer to consider, the Village Board Thursday decided to leave the property on the market at a $230,000 asking price with hopes another potential buyer makes an offer, Kunz said.

The sale would have been completed with a caveat that Bilik would give the village the right of first refusal to purchase the property back if he ever wanted to knock down the Memorial Hall building or sell it to another party, and Kunz said such a provision would be built into any sale.

Toni Wardanian, who is running for village president in the April 6 election, also supported the sale.

“I’m all for it. I don’t want to see this building knocked down. It’s a terrific building, and it needs to be in someone else’s love and care to be restored to its former glory,” she said.

But she said she is willing to see if a committee, formed by the village to test the waters for fundraising money to help rehabilitate the structure while keeping it under the village’s ownership, finds a way to make the necessary improvements.

Wardanian also wrote in the Facebook group that she is open to a voter referendum proposing a tax hike dedicated to maintaining and improving Memorial Hall in the 2023 municipal election. Kunz also said such a ballot measure may be looked at.

Adam Metz, a former Richmond Township supervisor who is also running for village president in next month’s election, said his hope for Memorial Hall is to keep it village owned, but have the village contract with a third party that could use it exclusively after agreeing to spend a certain amount on renovations. Such a party could turn a profit by holding events there while paying the village a cut or a set rental fee.

He said that the village could solicit bids every few years from private parties with ideas on how to use the space, and officials could choose the one they feel would maximize Memorial Hall’s benefit to the community.

“I would love for Memorial Hall to keep the same outside appearance. The updating inside needs to happen,” Metz said, adding he thought the live music venue idea was a good one, especially if the village could maintain ownership of the property. “It would be fantastic to have something of life show up.”