Former nursing home to be youth ministry
By TOM GIAMBRONILISBON - The former Pleasant View Nursing Home will be used as a combination residence/youth ministry by a Lisbon-area man following Wednesday's public auction of the closed facility.
Matthew Weaver was the highest bidder for the nearly 14,000-square-foot, 37-room facility located just north of the village off Hunters Camp Road. Weaver, who runs M & D Contracting, purchased the building and 10 acres for $95,700.
Weaver is a member and trustee of the Berea Christian Fellowship Church in Leetonia, where he also serves as director of the Whitestone Youth Outreach, the church's youth ministry.
Weaver said he and his wife and the 13 children they are raising plan to take up residency in the two-story house that is part of the nursing home complex. The nursing home part of the facility will be used for Weaver's youth ministry activities.
Berea Christian Fellowship is located in a former elementary school, where most of the space has been taken up by the sanctuary and fellowship hall, leaving little room for the 45 to 50 children involved in the youth ministry program, Weaver said.
In addition to the building and grounds, Weaver purchased some of the wardrobe/dressers and other room furnishings. The auction was conducted by Russ Kiko Associates.
Pleasant View closed earlier this year after the Covington Health Center in East Palestine opened, taking with it about 60 jobs. The owners relocated to East Palestine to obtain the municipal water and sewer services needed to build the new complex, which consists of a 50-bed skilled nursing facility and 19 senior apartments.
