Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill is a 1.2 million square foot facility that bisects North B Street in the renovated and reproposed former Champion Mill Paper Mill. It is now the largest indoor sports complex in the country as it hosts large-scale sports tournaments every weekend and can accommodate conferences and events. It also has a 233-room hotel. NICK GRAHAM/FILE
Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill in Hamilton will receive more than $3 million in compensatory damages to the Warehouse Hotel in a lawsuit against Steven Coon, a Stark County developer who had a brief interest in the mega-complex on North B Street.
“The jury awarded $3,330,619.79 in compensatory damages to the Warehouse Hotel, and the lawsuit will continue on April 20, 2026, for the jury to determine whether the Warehouse Hotel is entitled to punitive damages from Mr. Coon,” states a news release from Spooky Nook Sports’ Manheim, PA-based marketing director.
The case, “Historic Mill Land 2, LLC, et al. v. Steven C. Coon, et al,” was heard in Butler County. A jury trial lasted three weeks, according to Spooky Nook’s news release.
“The lawsuit will continue on April 20, 2026, for the jury to determine whether the Warehouse Hotel is entitled to punitive damages from Mr. Coon,” states the release.
At the time the lawsuit was filed, Coon was with PCS &build, the company that owns the Warehouse Hotel. Spooky Nook claimed in its Oct. 11, 2024 filing that Coon intentionally hid the fact he was financially involved with the company, which he recommended as the general contractor for the redevelopment project of the former Champion Mill paper plant.
Spooky Nook also claimed Coon failed to provide information necessary for the company’s determination on PCS’ qualifications as a general contractor.
After a recommendation to meet, Coon became involved in helping Spooky Nook with its state historic tax credit application process for the hotel portion of the project. Eventually, Spooky Nook, with Coon’s help, obtained $4.7 million in state historic tax credits in 2018.
During that process, Spooky Nook officials said they followed many of Coon’s recommendations and, according to its lawsuit, Coon had “became the public face” for its historic tax credit application.
Previous reporting from the Journal-News:
Spooky Nook claimed in October 2024 that Coon, who had acquired historic state tax credits on other Hamilton and Middletown projects, had knowledge of its finances when assisting with the tax credit application.
Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill is the redevelopment of two buildings that made up the former Champion Mill 1.2 million-plus-square-foot plant, which are on either side of North B Street along the Great Miami River. Hamilton city leaders and officials courted the Manheim, Pennsylvania-based Spooky Nook after seeing the facility attract thousands of visitors for each event to the small borough.
The redevelopment in Hamilton broke ground in October 2018, but delays plagued the project with supply chain slowness, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, for a March 2021 windstorm that knocked down a structure known as Building 500. But by the spring 2022, Spooky Nook began opening pieces of the mega-complex, first with the conference center in May 2022 followed by parts of the Warehouse Hotel.
Though a mechanic’s lien had been briefly levied against Spooky Nook in July 2022, and lifted a few weeks later, the sports and events side opened in earnest in December 2022 and January 2023.
By February 2023, Spooky Nook was sued by its general contractor, and the collapse of Building 500 was at the heart of that litigation. PCS claimed it was owed more than $11.9 million in damages, which Spooky Nook said was an attempt to seek payment for incomplete work.
General contractor PCS &build sued the sports complex in Butler County Common Pleas Court, which was the start of what eventually was declared complex litigation. Additional lawsuits and countersuits involved a plethora of parties from insurance companies and subcontractors (who also filed claims).
In 2024, Coon’s attorney said he was never an owner of PCS nor was he involved with the company’s business, and all of that was prior to Spooky Nook’s involvement. Additionally, Coon “was not in a position to share any financial information with (Spooky Nook).”
Reporter Michael D. Pitman contributed to this report.