City plans streetscapes for downtown
ZANESVILLE ? As the City of Zanesville is looking at ways to improve the look of its downtown, it is considering two separate streetscape projects to tie various parts of downtown together.
City Council has heard two ordinances; first to find a final plan for a streetscape in front of city hall, then a larger ordinance to develop a streetscape plan for the city's Gateway District, the area around Secrest Auditorium that is the city's entertainment district.
Market Street and its attendant sidewalks and streetscape was damaged during utility work following the fire at the Masonic Temple earlier this year. "Market Street never looked great because we had not gotten to it from a streetscape point, it looks really bad after getting torn up over the winter," said Scott Brown, the city's public service director.
Many of the streets downtown got new streetscape over the years, with new light poles and a brick edging to the sidewalk. Market Street was not completed before funding ran out. The road and sidewalks were damaged after utilities were moved to make way for the demolition of the burnt out ruins of the Masonic Temple.
"It is a not a very inviting entrance to city hall," Zanesville Mayor Don Mason said. "We are looking at options to landscape it and make it more inviting. We are trying to do something economical, but looks attractive."
The early plan for a streetscape, designed by OHM, the company who designed the streetscape in downtown Newark, costs about $700,000, Brown said, but significant cost cutting could be done. A large portion of that expense would be completely removing both the road and sidewalks down to dirt and rebuilding.
Early drawings so new ADA compliant ramps into City Hall, a Z embossed into the concrete in from of City Hall, landscaped islands, and colored concrete on the sidewalks. Brown said the landscapes islands would likely go, because it could impede trucks trying to get to Nestle/Purina. A large savings would be had by dispensing with the colored concrete, dropping from the neighborhood of $60 per square foot down to about $17. The project could end up being closer to $400,000, closer to what the cost of the work done on South Street, which did not include a full-depth replacement of the roadway.
Two parking spaces would be lost, replaced with landscaping. New lighting would be suspended over the street in a zig-zap fashion. Brown noted that the city would likely forego the proposed embossed Z in front of City Hall, as it would read as an N from certain directions.
"This is City Hall, is should be a prized location, and for one reason or another it has been a bit of an eyesore. We have not even done regular landscaping to try and identify the heart of the city," Brown said. Making downtown more attractive to outside investment for the city's continued growth, he said.
The legislation approved by council will create a final design, and once that is approved, the project will be bid out.
"We are looking at repurposing the entire Third, Shinnick, Elberon and Fouth Street area into an entertainment district," Mason said. "We really need someone to come in and take a look, tell us what is there and what can be refreshed, and what needs to be taken out."
To that end, the city plans on retaining Gossman Group to assess the area for potential improvements, including streetscapes to tie the area together. The proposal from Gossman Group says "While there is evidence of reinvestment in the John McIntire Library and retail and commercial buildings at Market and 4th streets, gaps in ground floor activity, a lack of street tree canopy and the open parking lots creates a more automotive-oriented sense of place and less appealing pedestrian environment."
Gossman will provide a plan to make the area more pedestrian friendly, including three budget levels of streetscape improvements, including special paving, seating, and a district identity.
"People will come and travel to downtown Zanesville," Mason said. "With I70 scheduled for it's face lift, I want to make sure when everything reopens, that Zanesville is the gateway to Southeast Ohio."
The cost of the Gateway streetscape study is be about $49,700.
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This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: City considering streetscapes options to make downtown more attractive