In December of 2019, HDC was commissioned to prepare the Section 106 documents needed for construction of the Pearl House in Zanesville, which required the demolition of three historic buildings on the block. HDC inventoried the three buildings and prepared a Memorandum of Agreement that stipulated a district nomination as mitigation for the loss of the three buildings. HDC advised the client to apply for a Pipeline grant from the Ohio Department of Development to help fund the nomination, which was approved in November of 2021. The district contains over 90 buildings, with contributing buildings constructed between the 1830s and 1970s. Some of these buildings are already individually listed in the National Register and retain much of their historic character while others were modernized in the mid-20th century by removal of the top floors and construction of a new flat roof–AKA when the “buzzsaw of death” visited Zanesville.
Left: This intact block of buildings on Main Street is fronted by the Ohio Power Building (built 1929), which is individually listed in the National Register. Right: This small building still retains 1890 sandstone lintels and sills from when it stood three stories in height as the Central Fire Station.
