Brighton Blvd. Public Meeting

Plans are in the making for the first move toward a city-wide revitalization in Zanesville.

The city has already applied for a $300,000 city block grant and is waiting for a $200,000 planning grant to become available. Once it is, the city will apply for it with the hope of using it to redevelop what are considered underdeveloped areas.

Public service director, Jay Bennett, said they’ll use the grant to identify problem areas and complete market studies. However, the plan will continue if the grant money doesn’t end up coming to Zanesville.

“We continue to bring neighbors together, convene and look for local resources, look for other state and federal money to do the work until they keep becoming available,” Bennett said.

To kick off the effort, the city is having a public meeting at the Veteran’s Complex at the Muskingum County Fairgrounds. The meeting will be on August 11, at 6:00 p.m.

The city’s new redevelopment administrator, Patrick O’Malia, sees the meeting as an opportunity for residents to voice their opinion on what should be done in the area.

“There are people that live there, see this every day,” O’Malia said. “Maybe all they see is an abandoned factory. I might see, well this is a great opportunity for reuse, but what my ideas are aren’t as important as what people who live around that area think, and what I want to see happen isn’t as important as the people who are going to have to live next to it everyday thing.”