Five years after the Opp City Council purchased a property on Main Street for the Opp Cultural Arts Center, the OCAC now says it has the means to purchase it from the city.

At Monday night’s city council meeting, the city agreed to sell the property to the arts center for $73,285 to satisfy the current mortgage.

In December 2010, the previous Opp City Council OK’d the purchase, but the arts council has been paying the mortgage payment on the building.

According to the Star-News archives, the OCAC was responsible for an estimated $400 a month, plus utilities, insurance, taxes and building maintenance. The city purchased the buildings for $62,500, and it was financed through Southern Independent Bank.

In May 2013, the OCAC approached the council about securing an additional $40,000 to help replace the roofs on the buildings located at 105 and 107 N. Main St., because they were caving in.

“They will take over the responsibility,” Mayor John Bartholomew said. “They have their own 501(c)(3).”

Jan Breedlove of the OCAC spoke on behalf of the organization at Monday’s meeting.

“This has been in the works for so long,” she said. “We’ve been trying to get it set up and get our ducks in a row. This will be officially ours.”

Breedlove said they have a lot of art classes at the center.

“On Tuesday nights we have $30 therapy classes with Liz McDaniel. They are three hours.”