County Commissioners Receive a Updated Proposal on the Munson School Project

MUSKINGUM COUNTY, Ohio- The Muskingum County Commissioners received an update today on a proposed plan to transform the former Munson School into housing property.

The proposal is to turn this abandoned property into 22 to 26 residential units and they are requesting a $2 million commitment from the Commissioners ARPA funds, says Andy Roberts, Muskingum County Land Reutilization Corporation Executive Director.

“The current cost that we have to re develop the entire project is $3 to $3 ½ million dollars so we were asking them for a $2 million dollar commitment and then we are going to go out and fundraise and try to enter into some public and private partnerships to make up the rest of that money,” Roberts stated.

They won’t know the exact property cost until bids are put out first, but this will be the first mixed income housing property that they are aware of in Ohio, according to Roberts.

“The Munson School property has been vacant for 16 years. It’s been a blight on that surrounding neighborhood that entire time. When we started these discussions we were trying to figure out what we could do with that building to actually make it reusable again so we didn’t have to sink ½ to a million dollars into actually demolishing it and this is what we were able to shake out,” Roberts said.

Others that are onboard with the project is Zanesville Housing Development Corporation (ZHDC).

The County Commissioners are needing more time on their decision, but should have an answer by next week.