Former McKinley Elementary School set to be Demolished

ZANESVILLE, OH – A former elementary school is set to be demolished after the holidays.

McKinley Elementary School has been closed since 2006 and last year a request was submitted to rezone the property. In its place will be a new affordable housing complex called Zane Commons.

Ian Maute, the Director of Development of the Buckeye Community Hope Foundation, said the entire project’s total is $13.7 Million. He also said they recently closed on the financing for the building and detailed some of the completed work.

“We just finished some abatement work inside of the building, just removing the asbestos and other things that aren’t good for us,” Maute said. “We are also finishing up some demolition on the outside of the building by removing old power and utility lines as well as removing some trees.”

Maute said once all of that work is completed is when construction on Zane Commons will begin. He said the construction of the new apartment building could take up to 14 months.

“This will be an affordable housing development and it won’t be subsidized, every resident will need to pay rent,” Maunte said. “There’s a total of 44 units that will be available. 14, one bedroom units, 24, two bedroom units, and then 6, three bedroom units.”

Maute said the rent will range from $330 to $730 for a one bedroom unit. The 3 bedroom units will go for anywhere from $415 to $950.