Mount Vernon News

MOUNT VERNON — Wednesday, members from the Ohio Heritage Group concluded a two-day visit with local community leaders and members of the Heritage Centre Association. The purpose of the visit was to assess the issues and challenges facing the downtown area, and identify where and how revitalization goals may be accomplished.

The downtown assessment resource visit is a preliminary step for the HCA to enroll in the Ohio Main Street program. If accepted into the program, HCA will receive a number of benefits, including design consultation from Ohio Heritage as well the group’s aid in locating sources of funding for the city’s downtown.

John Marsh, downtown manager for HCA, said about 17 people went on the tour of the city on Tuesday. Among them were three leaders of Ohio Heritage, Mayor Richard Mavis, Councilman John Fair, downtown property owner Mark Ramser, chamber of commerce president Holly Quaine, as well as representatives from First-Knox National Bank, Ariel Corp. and the Knox County Area Development Foundation. He said they toured many areas of the city, including the downtown, Foundation Park, the Coshocton Avenue area and a long stretch of East High Street. The group was also allowed inside the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Depot on West High Street, which is being renovated. He said there was discussion about potential for development downtown and the benefit of Central Ohio Technical College locating its Knox campus on South Main Street, as well as plans to develop riverfront walking paths that link Memorial, Foundation and Riverside parks.

On Wednesday, a workshop was held at First-Knox National Bank. The HCA board of directors were among those in attendance.

During the day-long workshop, a list of assets of and challenges facing the community were enumerated and posted on the wall. Assets listed included the architecture of homes and buildings, colleges, brick streets, the Woodward Opera House, parks, community pride, the chamber of commerce, the convention and visitor’s bureau, the variety of businesses, the library, churches, schools, the newspaper and the radio. The challenges facing the downtown and the community as a whole were also numerous, and included the perception of a lack of parking downtown, empty store fronts, business turnover downtown, vacancy of upper floors of downtown buildings, Coshocton Avenue development, the lack of a downtown image, financing riverfront development and graffiti.

Marsh said an interesting idea for helping downtown businesses was discussed on Tuesday. Some downtown organizations enrolled in the Main Street program give cash incentives to help businesses in the downtown area take certain steps. Every third month the organization pays the business’s rent, provided that the owners form a thorough business plan and related work to help them succeed. He said he thought this was a good idea and one HCA might consider implementing in the future.

Joyce Barrett, director of historic preservation with Ohio Heritage, gave a presentation on how to preserve — as well as how to avoid the destruction — of the architectural integrity and quality of a historic building.

“As time goes on, if you don’t maintain your downtown buildings, they fall apart,” Barrett said.

She said design review offers the value of helping protect downtown buildings from decay as well architectural additions that do not fit with its original design. For instance, a large awning with what, she called a kind of wild west look, are put in place of the smaller, original awnings. This is often done because building owners think the larger awning has a more historic look. Some spend thousands to add a colonial facade, under the mistaken belief that they live in a colonial city. Despite the common misconception, Barrett added, Mount Vernon was not one of the original colonies, and the only type of architecture that fits the title in any way was a post-colonial style sometimes found in Ohio.

She said the design review is an invaluable way to protect original architecture but is not a form of policing property owners making changes to their buildings. Barrett said HCA’s design review committee should be in close contact with all business and property owners in the downtown area. Those people should know the committee is there to help them before changes are made.

Pauline Eaton, interim executive director of OHG, told the group she thinks Mount Vernon is Main Street material and spoke about the future steps HCA must take to become a member of the program.

Marsh said he thinks the city’s passage of the lodging tax, a portion of which goes to HCA, has helped provide momentum for the association to join the program. He said it’s time to commit and make the application.

“We have tremendous potential,” he said. “We’ve made mistakes in the past. But it’s time to pick up the ball.”

Marsh said the board now has a time line and instructions to follow.

After the workshop, Eaton said she has always thought very highly of Mount Vernon. The community has impressive buildings and historical assets as well as very nice commerical and residential areas.

“We go into a lot of communities in Ohio and we can sense a positive attitude in this community,” she said. “I’ve noticed two things that stand out about the people we’ve met — they have a positive attitude and a lot of community pride.”

Eaton added that she can tell that people here are very involved in their community.