John Coffelt, Editor

Coffee County has officially concluded the sale of the former Arrowheads to Aerospace Museum with the real estate closing on Wednesday, Jan. 25.

The property sold for $2.5 million at auction on Dec. 10 to Hutton Group of Chattanooga.  

 County Mayor Judd Matheny commended Coffee County Reality for helping the county with the sale.

“We appreciate their assistance in marketing and selling this,” Matheny said. “The county was blessed to receive a considerable amount more than we had anticipated.”

Hutton group is a development firm that specializes in restaurants, hotels and shopping centers.

Questions to the new owners concerning the potential use of the property were not returned by press time.

The funds from sale were transferred to the county were they were placed in a short-term investment plan which netted the county an additional $50,000, according to Matheny.

Auctioneer Jimmy Jernigan said his company appreciates the opportunity.

“I feel like this county has been really good to all of us,” Jernigan said.

Purchasing Agent Stephanie Bush said once the realtors were chosen, the group came in and was amazing to work with.

“We weren’t trying to make much. We were really trying to give back to a community that’s always trying to help us. We didn’t leave any money on the table. We got as much for the county as we could to befit everyone in Coffee County.

Commissioner Dennis Hunt notes that the relators presented a favorable proposal for the sale. 

“They earned the right to sell this. It was put out … for consideration and Coffee County Realty earned the right,” Hunt said. 

Trustee John Marchesoni said it was nice to have Coffee County Reality to be representing Coffee County.  

Register of Deeds Donna Toney called the sale a historic day for the county.

“This is going in the history of Coffee County as a real memorable time. These are the things that make the history interesting later,” Toney said.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.