During a special meeting of Zanesville’s Public Safety Committee, the new owner of 606 and 608 Main Street in Downtown Zanesville had his first opportunity to address council members with plans for the recently condemned properties he purchased for $11 during an auditor’s sale earlier this month.

The properties have been a concern for the City since they experienced their first collapse in 2014. Without legal access to the buildings to prevent any further deterioration due to an absentee owner, the City couldn’t move forward with any plans to secure the structure. 

For years, the buildings continued to decay, causing damage to its neighboring buildings — one being the Yan Sun Art Museum to the right and the other being Shirley Labaki’s antique shop to the left. Labaki’s building sustained the worst fate since it shares a wall with the collapsing buildings. Sun’s building is structurally sound but is increasingly subjected to water damage.

The City eventually came into ownership of the properties last year after the buildings were deemed too dangerous and were condemned. 

Since then, several City Council committees have been working to find a solution for the parcels. Discussion has included demolishing the buildings — which potentially would cost the same as or more than saving the buildings. Many City officials and council members prefer the latter route. At one point, an ordinance was passed to grant the Zanesville-Muskingum County Port Authority $900,000 to develop the properties, but those plans fell through due to lack of interest in the buildings. 

During a July 2019 meeting of the Public Safety Committee, advocates in favor of saving the buildings were given a 90 day ultimatum to come up with a plan and funding to secure the structures with the alternate fate being demolition.  

“Right now, it looks like there’s enough moving that that could be extended,” said Public Safety Committee Chairman Rob Sharrer.

In August, local business owner and founder of ZDT Redux, Nate Embrey, launched a crowd-sourcing campaign to raise funds to save the buildings. 

Embrey also introduced PROJECT: RE-MAIN, his company’s initiative to bring new, trendy businesses to the block. 

During Monday evening’s meeting, Embrey shared some of his plans with the committee, and took the opportunity to ask the City some questions, as well. 

Another group interested in saving the buildings presented their ideas for the stretch of properties Monday evening. 

Led by local artist Paul Emory and assisted by Jim Lepi, President of Lepi and Associates, the group has developed plans of their own to preserve and develop the Main Street buildings at risk. 

“We think that our proposal stabilizes the buildings or uncovers structural obstacles that cannot be affordably overcome,” said Lepi. 

Lepi added that the plan includes the involvement of a second, non-profit owner that would be eligible to receive grant money before ultimately including an end-user or developer that would likely be eligible for historic tax credits.

Although the future of the buildings almost solely lies in the hands of Embrey, Lepi said there is still a way for his group’s suggestions to be feasible, if ZDT Redux, Labaki and the City of Zanesville should choose to entertain them. 

“Our plan allows six weeks for the owners to decide if this plan is in their best interest or if they want to shoulder the responsibility on their own,” said Lepi. 

Lepi explained that the ultimate goal of his group is to see the buildings saved, regardless of the owner. 

However, the likelihood of Lepi’s group working with Embrey’s is not great. 

“I don’t see a situation where this group is a partner in this,” said Lepi. 

While the group Lepi presented on behalf of to Council Monday has been developing its plans for years, Embrey’s group is just beginning. 

“We’ve been working for weeks on a formal plan that outlines how we’ll approach the Main Street project and the total number of jobs and revenue that we hope to create as a result. That should be done in the coming months,” said Embrey. “Until then, we remain open to other ideas and concepts from the city and the other local artists and business owners who have put countless hours into creating their own plans and potential paths forward. We’re excited to collaborate with all interested parties and do something great for downtown.”

Embrey explained that he is serious about the project and has the resources to back it. 

Still, he is searching for a way for the City to legally assist in the project, which may result in selling or leasing the properties to an outside entity such as the Zanesville-Muskingum County Port Authority or Zanesville Community Improvement Corporation. 

Sharrer said, moving forward from a community development and economic perspective, one concern he would like to address is how the potential of giving money to one business would impact other business owner who didn’t have that opportunity.

While those plans still need to be worked out, the first priority for the City and new owners is to stabilize the structures so they are no longer a danger to those around them.