Piedmont College announced today it’s closed a deal to buy 80 acres of land bordering its Demorest campus. The land lies south of the campus and is partly bordered by Camp Creek and U.S. 441.
Piedmont bought the land from the family of Mary and the late Ray Rohletter who once managed a farm on the property. The land had been in the Rohletter family since the early 1900s, according to Piedmont’s news release.
In 2002, the Rohletters gave the college approximately 11 acres of their farm to be incorporated into the conversion of Lake Demorest into a wetlands area.
“We are deeply grateful to the Rohletter family, in particular Ray and Mary’s children Joel Rohletter, Jennifer Rohletter Chambers, and Amanda Rohletter Powell, for their commitment to our students by enabling the transfer of this unique asset,” says Piedmont President James F. Mellichamp.
To honor the family, the college has named the area the “Mary and Ray Rohletter Farm Campus.” A future access road through the property will be been named “Rohletter Farm Drive.”
With the acquisition, Piedmont College now owns more than 400 acres in Demorest. The college also operates a four-acre campus in Athens.
Mellichamp says civil engineers are preparing preliminary designs for the road placement. The college has not determined how the property will be developed.
“This acquisition increases our landholdings in Demorest by nearly 25 percent,” says Mellichamp. “We are a thriving institution that is growing. This land will provide room for future development.”
