Ex-Liberty entrepreneur gives acreage

The gift of land may help bring a new fire station to the township.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LIBERTY -- Former Liberty resident Raxit Shah has given generously to the township -- but years of hard work, relationship building and growing love for the community preceded that gift.
Shah and his wife, Ketki Shah, donated 1.16 acres at 114 E. Liberty St. to the township in August. There is a 9,120-square-foot building on the land. The property is appraised at $800,000.
Township officials have deemed the site ideal for a central township fire station. They plan to tear down the building and build the new station.
The demolition will cost about $10,000. Building the new station would cost between $1 million and $2 million, but officials hope the value of the donated property could serve as the needed matching funds for state grant money.
The land without the building is still worth about $500,000, Shah said.
Shah's story
Shah was born in India in 1950, then moved to Canada in 1970 before making his way to the United States in the early 1980s. He came to the country with little more than a few possessions and the desire to make a living in business.
Shah settled in Liberty Township in 1984. He said the area was exactly the type of place where he wanted to raise his family.
"It was the land of opportunity, and if you work hard, you will succeed," he said. "The area was open to people -- people with an entrepreneurial spirit."
Shah used that spirit to open his first hotel in Dayton in 1980. He would eventually open two more hotels in other areas before opening the Howard Johnson hotel on Belmont in 1983.
Shah is the head of the Liberty Group of companies. Through years of business endeavors Shah always considered Liberty Township his home. He lived in the township from 1984 until 1999, when the family moved to Tierra Verde, Fla.
Thanks to community
The donation made to the township is a means of showing his dedication and thanks to the community, Shah said.
Nothing, he said, is expected in return except that the township accept the gift and make good use of it.
"We lived in Liberty Township and there is a lot of attachment to that area. So, we wanted to give something back to the township," he said. "We are not rich people, but you don't have to be rich to give back. You must only be rich at heart."
The Shah family generosity does not stop with Liberty Township. The family has been instrumental in developing and maintaining an eye hospital to provide charitable operations to the needy, and has also opened a primary school for disadvantaged pupils in Godhra, Gujarat, India. On a recent visit, the family provided medical supplies and bought an ambulance and a hearse for the residents of Godhra.
Shah said he, his wife and two sons have not completely left the area. He still owns a hotel in Newton Falls, two hotels in Ashtabula and a home in Warren.
jgoodwin@vindy.com