![The Longaberger Basket Co. moved out of the iconic building in 2016. [Wikipedia.org]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1c6eff1/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2500x1663+0+0/resize/840x558!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fimages%2Fnews%2Fnpr%2F2019%2F10%2F772184857_1590767949.jpg)
A Canton-based developer says his company plans to turn the former Longaberger Basket Co.’s iconic headquarters into a luxury hotel.
Steve Coon, whose company is co-owner of the massive basket-shaped building on the east side of Newark, made the announcement Monday night at a reception for the preservation group Heritage Ohio.
“We’ve just got to make the numbers work,” Coon told WBSN-TV. “It’s a heavy lift, but it’s a great project to spend the time on to make happen.”
Coon and a business partner bought the shuttered building in 2017, about a year after the once-highly-successful basket maker moved out of the property just off State Route 161.
State Sen. Jay Hottinger (R-Newark) wrote on Twitter that “the plans are to renovate the interior & reopen the place as a luxury hotel sometime in 2020.”
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