How far along is the Munson Elementary School affordable housing project?
ZANESVILLE — County officials want to give an old school building a new life as an affordable housing complex, but it has a ways to go.
Last spring, members of the Zanesville-Muskingum County Land Reutilization board, better known as the land bank, visited the former Munson Elementary School building on Brighton Boulevard with an idea: convert the former classrooms into affordable apartments.
Munson project: Can old Munson Elementary School be flipped into housing?
The project is still ongoing, as the main part of the funding hasn't yet been secured.
The land bank, Zanesville Metropolitan Housing Authority, and Zanesville Community Development made a pitch to county commissioners for $2 million to fund the project, but the request is still pending.
A contractor is stepping in to verify the cost of the project. The initial estimate was between $3 million and $3.5 million.
Here's what we know about the project, how much progress has been made, and why officials say it's needed in the Zanesville community.
Why Munson?
The building, once an Zanesville City Schools elementary, has attracted vandalism and fallen into disrepair for the better part of two decades.
An Ohio University professor purchased it after the school closed in 2005 under the name Zane Learning Center, but he passed away before anything was done with the building. It's sat vacant ever since.
Although the building appears to be in bad shape, it has good bones: An engineer's assessment found it's structurally sound, but a roof repair is needed before any rehab can be done inside.
Turning a school into an apartment complex isn't a new concept: "We're not exactly reinventing the wheel," said Andy Roberts, executive director of the land bank.
A private party has interest flipping another old Zanesville school, the former McKinley Elementary. It would need to be rezoned.
More: Council tables McKinley School apartment zoning
Munson is already zoned for its intended purpose, multifamily residential.
After evaluating material costs, it turned out to be less expensive to renovate an existing structure than build a new one, according to a report from the land bank.
What's the status?
The $2 million that project coordinators requested would come from the county's American Rescue Plan Act fund, the latest COVID-19 relief bill passed by Congress.
It's similar to the CARES Act passed in the midst of the pandemic, but the money can be used for things that aren't just virus-related. One of those is addressing a need for low-income housing.
The board of commission held off on the vote to allocate $2 million, with one commissioner absent.
More: County holding off on $2 million vote for Munson Elementary School housing project
Commissioners have approved $88,000 to go toward the roof rebuild. Crews can't begin renovating the inside until that's done, so that would be the next step after a contractor first determines how much the total cost of the renovation would be.
While the $2 million is the biggest potential funding source, an estimated 55%, it's not the only option. A number of local organizations have expressed interest in helping out financially, Roberts said.
"But a lot of that is predicated on us getting that initial $2 million," he said.
Ohio's budget bill allocated $350 million toward brownfield and blighted structure revitalization, which the land bank has been eyeing since it was first announced.
More: Will Ohio help fund $1M Mosaic Tile demolition? Land bank is cautiously optimistic
A tentative timeline suggested the end of construction could be as early as November 2023.
Why is it needed?
There is an urgent housing shortage in Zanesville overall, and low-income housing is no exception.
Right now there are about 200 unused Section 8 vouchers. The building could sustain between 22 and 25 units, which could eliminate at least 10% of that deficit.
A 2019 housing needs assessment found the city also had a 1.6% housing vacancy rate stretching across all housing types.
Future plans remain uncertain if funding isn't secured to take on the project, Roberts said.
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This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: A former school on Brighton Boulevard may see new life as apartments
