SALEM - The grounds are vacant and unkempt, the gates are locked, and there is a condemned sign in the window of the old country store at Ponderosa Park.
How the mighty have fallen.
Not so long Ponderosa Park was one of the top country and western summer tour stops regularly drawing the biggest names in country music.
Thousands upon thousands of fans drove hundreds of miles to enjoy their favorite country stars in a semi-outdoor setting.
Next month, the park, located at at 9362 Salem-Warren Road, will be auctioned off.
The sheriff's sale will be held in the Mahoning County commissioners office at 1:30 p.m., March 27, according to attorney Gary J. Rosati.
The office is located art 21 Boardman St. in downtown Youngstown.
There is about 190 acres on the site, which Rosati, who was hired by the county prosecutors office to handle the extensive research involved in tracking down all the deed owners, said would be sold in three sections.
The popular music venue located five miles north of Salem on state Route 45, had an adjoining campground which set into motion a series of poor business decisions which eventually led to the park's demise.
Years ago, small deeded plats on the campgrounds were sold outright to campers and many complained the upkeep and contract provisions were ignored.
In 2010, there were 962 deed liens against it including three by the Internal Revenue Service, four mechanic liens and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources were investigating problems on the grounds.
Assistant Mahoning County Prosecutor Elizabeth Phillips said Rosati's outside land office was hired to foreclose on the property "because of the extensive research" required.
She said the prosecutors office didn't have the manpower to research all the parcels.
Rosati said the work has been complicated by difficulty in serving Ray Novelli, the principle in Seasons Resorts, the owner of the park.
"We had to go through a lot of streets and alleys," he said. "We had to get service on Novelli."
There are also oil and gas rights.
Rosati explained that some of the deeds were written into wills, transferred and passed along in families with some divided up among several family members after the owners died.
Tracking down people with an interest in a deed has taken about two years and knowing how to get service on the alleged owner has taken another year according to Rosati.
Then there was the process of "marshalling of lines." That meant advising the deed holders of liens against their property.
Many weren't notified, he said, and they believed the property was intact.
"We've had to be very careful not only with deed interests but lien interests," Rosati said, explaining a credit card lien will attach to a parcel.
"You have to do that for every person."
Those are issues below the surface.
"It's just a real mess," Rosati said.
There are also more obvious problems, he said, explaining that pumps and equipment have been stripped from the wastewater treatment plant and the once-famous Red Garter Saloon looks "like a tornado hit it."
None of the public areas have been spared, and Rosati said he expects to have an appraised value for the park, which was once valued at $9 million, on Tuesday.
The front part of the park, which has an address in the 9300 block of state Route 45, comprises some 94 acres including the country store, Red Garter Saloon, the wastewater treatment plant, moat, a pond, indoor swimming pool and stage area.
The back area, which has an address of 11471 Western Reserve Road, totals about 68 acres.
Rosati said about another 37 acres "in the middle" of the park will be sold separately at a later date along with a house at 9340 state Route 45.
Rosati said he had heard from campground groups about ongoing promises to "fix things up" in the past but it never happened.
"Everyone that's looked at it sort of throws up their arms up," Rosati said. "I stepped in."
He noted that Goshen Township "is losing a lot of real estate money" but Mahoning County is first in line after any settlement.
Everytime the county tried to collect back property taxes, "it ran into bankruptcy," Rosati said.
"It's been tedious and time consuming."
Larry Shields can be reached at lshields@salemnews.net
