Former Newcomerstown resident donates land to village that will be site of a restaurant

NEWCOMERSTOWN − Land donated to the Village of Newcomerstown by a former resident will in the future be the site of an unnamed restaurant.

Bill Heifner donated 3¼ acres on Morris Crossing just off U.S. 36 to the village at Monday night's council meeting. The land is adjacent to the new Spark by Hilton and is valued around $500,000 due to its location, according to Mayor Patrick Cadle .Heifner grew up on Cross Street in Newcomerstown and attended school there until 1963 when he went to Millersburg Military Institute in Kentucky to complete his junior and senior year of high school. After graduating, Heifner attended Ohio University, where he met his wife, Sandy. He was drafted into the Army before he was able to graduate, but he returned and earned an engineering degree in 1972.

In 1980, with no construction experience, Heifner decided to start Renier Construction. "Luckily, Sandy was teaching school and that assisted immensely while I was getting my business off the ground. We have been in business since and specialize in building automobile dealerships in the Midwest," he said."I have been gone from the village for years, but I have many fond memories of Newcomerstown, and appreciate my small-town roots," he said. "I continue to hear good things about all the wonderful happenings in my hometown. I recently viewed the video Mayor Pat Cadle’s office has put together including a highlight of the schools, local businesses, attractions and more. The video impressed me, and I wanted to give back to Newcomerstown.

"The community needs restaurants, and I know that is what the mayor and council have planned for the property, and I am happy to help," he added.Cadle called the donation “another remarkable thing for our village...The gift will be used for a restaurant that the village council and I will work together with the management team from the Spark by Hilton on, and we already have some ideas on that front." The restaurant will not be affiliated with Spark by Hilton.

As Heifner spoke at the meeting, he quoted another native of Newcomerstown: “In the words of Woody Hayes, 'It's about having the right people with the right abilities in the right place, at the right time,' and I feel this about those village government officials and others giving it their all to the future of Newcomerstown.”

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Former Newcomerstown resident donates land to village that will be site of a restaurant