The city of Columbus has closed on a deal to buy the former Ohio State "sheep farm" property near the university's Don Scott Field on the Northwest Side, and will take possession of the land on Dec. 31.

"Needless to say, we're ecstatic," said Roy Wentzel, a Northwest Civic Association member who wanted to preserve the land as green space.

"It means that we are going to have a community park in Northwest Columbus that we have been advocating for for two years," he said.

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The Columbus Department of Recreation and Parks will use most of the property as parkland and open space.

The city agreed to buy the nearly 58-acre parcel for $5.2 million. Columbus officials had planned to sell 34 acres to Upper Arlington, which wanted to use that space for its own park. But Columbus residents objected and the city abandoned those plans.

Columbus parks officials have no specific plans for the space, but it could get a playground and a trail, said Brian Hoyt, parks spokesman. The city still plans to sell 15 of the acres to Dublin City Schools, whose Wright Elementary School is adjacent to the site.

Wentzel recently wrote a letter to Mayor Andrew J. Ginther, Columbus Foundation President and CEO Doug Kridler and officials at the YMCA and Columbus Metropolitan Library suggesting that a library branch and community center be built on the site. Hoyt said the nearby Carriage Place Community Center already serves the area.

The city had delayed closing on the property at 2425 W. Case Road so Ohio State could clean contaminants from the site. The work is expected to cost less than $20,000, Ohio State spokesman Dan Hedman said in an email.

A groundwater sample taken from an underground storage tank cavity found concentrations of lead exceeding drinking water standards.

Another sample contained concentrations of benzene, ethylbenzene and napthalene that were above state Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations standards for drinking water. A soil sample also contained concentrations of benzene and naphthalene above those standards.

Exposure to lead can affect the development of the brain and nervous system in young children, while benzene is a carcinogen.

In 1994, the university removed and remediated underground gasoline storage tanks on the site, Hedman said.

As part of the due diligence process of the land sale, Ohio State hired an independent third party to conduct additional soil and groundwater investigation in the same area, he said. The investigation confirmed previous findings that there was no contamination above regulatory levels.

mferench@dispatch.com

@MarkFerenchik