The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

New organization wants say in Mary Haven future

Fewer taking time off work
New 3 min. ago 5/25/12
Millions spent to curb drunk driving
New 4 min. ago 5/25/12
St. Clair Twp. errors cost taxpayers $9K
New 6 min. ago 5/25/12
Injured Monroe firefighter still at burn unit
Updated 11 min. ago 5/25/12
Principal remains under review
New 18 min. ago 5/25/12
> More headlines

By Justin McClelland, Staff Writer Updated 6:58 PM Wednesday, February 1, 2012

LEBANON — A new group of private citizens has entered the legal battle over the fate of a historic, crumbling 19th century orphanage.

The Organization for the Klingling Trust/Will Preservation, a subset of the Lebanon Conservancy Foundation, filed a motion Tuesday to intervene in the dual lawsuits between Warren County and the state over the future of the Mary Haven Orphanage.

The orphanage was established in 1867 by Mary Ann Klingling, who created a trust upon her death to care for orphans in Warren County. The three-story building, built in 1874 on a 53-acre parcel at the corner of Ohio 63 and Markey Road, later became the Mary Haven facility, where delinquent youths were placed by Children Services and the juvenile court. It has been vacant and deteriorating for more than a decade.

The Warren County Commission filed a lawsuit in January of last year against the Ohio Attorney General’s Office in the county probate court to seek a decision on the ownership of the property and possibly dissolve the Klingling trust, which they said is bankrupt. The state, through the attorney general, filed a counter claim in February.

Now the Organization for the Klingling Trust/Will Preservation, which is seeking nonprofit status, also wants a say in the matter.

“Our organization wishes to act as a conduit for information and concerns that would be helpful to the court in terms of the current and future needs of the children of Warren County,” said organization spokesman James Grever. “The county commissioners and attorney general’s office are to be commended for trying to clarify and rectify a complex situation that has developed over many decades.”

In a motion for intervention filed in probate court the new organization stated desires to keep the Klingling Trust alive, and use it social programs and aid for the youth of Warren County, as well as an audit of records related to the trust.

Share this article