The Mount Vernon City Council designated the Taugher block as an urban renewal area at its June 22 meeting and approved a request for qualifications to select a firm to draft a plan for the properties.
Safety Service Director Tanner Salyers said, "We've worked with our partners at Pizzuti Solutions, working out a request for development proposals. We have a very rough draft of that right now. A big part of that is looking at all of the historic uses of the building in the past, looking at the potential for downtown shops, third spaces, downtown living, parking, accessibility, utilities, and making sure that the city finds somebody that has experience with these sites and has the capital and the knowledge to turn this site into something, with an emphasis on preserving particularly the Taugher block," according to a video recording of the meeting. Salyers also said, by seeking requests for qualifications to get someone to develop a plan for the site, the city will have a say in what the developer plans. City Council member Taylor Jacklin said that makes him and hopefully a lot of other people more comfortable with the idea of selling the property at a possible loss, as it is an opportunity to preserve the way downtown looks.
According to Salyers in the video recording, he offered Founders Food Hall as an example where redevelopment turned around another historic property in Mount Vernon. The Knox County Land Bank redeveloped the former Mount Vernon News building into Founders Food Hall after it had become an eyesore on Vine and Gay Streets. Salyers said he knew that was a difficult project but it flourished; he added that "the city wants its property to flourish as well, and won't let a couple of hundred thousand dollars stand in the way of accomplishing that." Salyers also said that while selling this property may result in a financial loss—the city bought it in 2022 for approximately $685,000—Mayor Matt Starr believes any short-term loss should be offset by long-term revenue streams returning to Mount Vernon. Starr said they want to see "a bustling downtown" and described this location as prime real estate for economic activity meaningful to residents.
According to Salyers in remarks recorded during council meetings and reported by Mount Vernon News, community input influenced decisions about preserving these properties for downtown shopping or living rather than using them as sites for new government buildings. In addition, on June 23, council approved leasing space from Central Ohio Technical College so City Hall can relocate there while administrative buildings are remodeled as part of plans for a justice center campus. These moves enabled planning efforts focused on revitalizing downtown buildings previously purchased by Mount Vernon.
