COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio History Connection and the Moundbuilders Country Club have reached a settlement, allowing the Octagon Earthworks in Newark to become publicly accessible on Jan. 1, 2025.

A press release from Ohio History Connection states that they have reached a settlement to buy the lease to the property for a confidential sum.

“Our guiding principles throughout this process have been to enable full public access to the Octagon Earthworks while ensuring Moundbuilders Country Club receives just compensation for the value of its lease on the property,” said Megan Wood, executive director and CEO of the Ohio History Connection, in the release. “And now we have accomplished those things.”

The release states that this settlement avoids a Licking County Court of Common Please jury trial that would have decided the value of the lease.

While the country club has had the lease since 1910, the history connection will take the leasehold at the start of next year. The property was deeded to the history connection in 1933, the release states.

“The New Year will bring a new era to the Octagon Earthworks and the Ohio History Connection,” said Charles R. Moses, president of the Ohio History Connection Board of Trustees, in the release. “We are excited the Octagon, which is one of the eight locations in the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, Ohio’s first and only UNESCO World Heritage Site, will be fully open to the citizens of Ohio – and the world.”

According to the release, a Licking County common pleas judge ruled the history connection had authority to acquire the lease for public use in 2019, a decision upheld by the Fifth District Court of Appeals.

This decision was further upheld by the Supreme Court of Ohio on Dec. 7, 2022.

“We look forward to partnering with the community to bring vibrant and meaningful visitor experiences to this remarkable place, and we plan to provide more details after we officially take possession of the leasehold for the property,” Wood said.