Children's Center of Mercer County has bought back the building and much of the property it sold to the city of Hermitage in 1992.

Executive Director Carol Rich said she hopes the purchase of the building at 900 N. Hermitage Road will increase the center's visibility.

"They think we've gone away," she said of the thoughts of some people.

The center is the former Crippled Children's Society, which lost its core mission when the children it served moved into regular school classrooms.