Land Bank Update

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – The Muskingum County Reutilization Corporation also known as the Land Bank held their monthly meeting. 

The Land Bank is responsible for the cleanup of blighted properties which often contain hazardous materials. The majority of property refurbishments, both commercial and residential are supported through state and federal grant funds.    

“So right now the two bigger ones that we’re on is… we’re cleaning up the Kirkbride Marina down there for the park district. Getting those buildings torn down. That’s still ongoing. There is one building way down over the hill that you can’t really see from the road that they’re working on right now. They should have that cleaned up either the end of this week or beginning of next. The former Holiday Inn out on East Pike is still ongoing. We’re about 65 to 70 percent done with it,” Roberts said.

The Land Bank takes on the responsibility of assessing the properties, acquiring the grant funding and aligning the contractors to perform the transformations. Each individual refurbishment project improves the look and morale of area neighborhoods for not only the residents but visitors as well.  

“We just finished up the Gant football bleachers for the city,” Roberts said. “So we got that all taken out of there. We also tore down a few houses out in Sonora and an old store. And coming up we’ve got the former waterworks building out on the Triple Sixes that we have pre-bid on tomorrow, starting at nine.”

Roberts added that they received two new grant awards that will be used for demolition and remediation of the Ritchey Store located at the intersection of Dryden and Luck, as well as a lot located near Greenwood and Wheeling.