By Michelle Price
Special to the UCBJ
COOKEVILLE – The Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency (UCHRA) Board of Directors voted today to auction the vacant former Indian Mound Boys Residential Center located between Sparta and Smithville.
Indian Mound closed last year in the wake of the COVID pandemic. Most of the boys housed at Indian Mound were there by court order.
UCHRA Executive Director Mark Farley said that after evaluating the facility and its remote location, it was determined that it is in the best interest of the agency to dispose of that property.
The 110-acre property features a house and a classroom type facility and is on two parcels. The property is not on the lake, but it is very close to it. A recent appraisal valued the property at $675,000.
Today, the board was presented with a resolution to acquire an auction firm and put the property up for auction.
One member of the board asked about listing the property with a real estate firm instead of auctioning it.
Farley responded, “I’m going to go back to my old finance days. The best way for a government to dispose of property is with a public auction. That way it is clean. It is open to the public, and there is no avenue for anybody to have any issues.”
The property will sell with no reserve. Intentions are for the proceeds to pay off the $200,000 remaining balance on the Lakeside Resort property loan and to roll the remainder into UCHRA reserves.
Farley added, “We do have quite a bit of interest including some facilities that may be interested in continuing on with the same type of facility. We do have adjoining landowners that are very interested in it. I think it will have a lot of interest.”
