Parties interested in buying the entertainment and dining venue Amish Acres in Nappanee near Elkhart will have their chance to make a bid for the site next month.
The almost 30-acre property, which houses the Round Barn Theater, restaurants, inn and other facilities is being sold at auction on Feb. 5. Prospective bidders got their first looks at the property Jan. 6 and 15, as marketing hit full swing for the auction of the Round Barn Theatre, restaurants, inn and other facilities on site.
“It's a real privilege to be handling the auction for this landmark, with a rich tradition of entertaining families for a half century,” said Roger Diehm, vice president of Schrader Real Estate and Auction Co. Inc. of Columbia City.
A 19,000-square-foot building contains the 400-seat theatre, meeting house, lobby and greeting barn on four acres at the corner of U.S. 6 and Arnott Street, with 650 feet of road frontage. This tract will be one of 13 tracts offered, with others including potential development tracts as well as the facilities used for Amish Acres.
R.D. Schrader, president of the auction company said, there could potentially be up to 13 different buyers, or someone might buy the entire property.
“It will just depend on how the bidding goes,” Schrader said. “Our bidding method enables people to bid on tracts that interest them most — whether theatre, restaurant, or development land, for example.”
The 23,000-square-foot restaurant barn and loft has served over 60,000 meals annually and has an 8,000-square-foot kitchen.
Amish Acres announced on its website in November that it was closing after its New Year’s Eve Fireworks Finale Dec. 31. The Pletcher family, which founded and operated the business for 50 years, said they were retiring.
