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President Chris Knisely speaks at a city council meeting Monday, August 22, 2016. (CAMILLE FINE | FOR THE POST)

City Council: Members to get update on West Union Street reconstruction

Nearly two years after a fire devastated local businesses on West Union Street, City Council will be receiving an update on the rebuilding of the area.

In November 2014 a fire broke out on West Union Street, damaging five businesses. Since 2014 many of the damages have been repaired, and The Union Bar & Grill, 18 W. Union St., which was completely destroyed, has been rebuilt. Some buildings are still under construction or vacant.

Chris Knisely, council president, said council has been supportive of the damaged businesses since the fire.

“One of the things the council did was designate the area a historic district, which would enable some of them to get tax credits as they rebuilt,” she said.

One of those businesses is Uptown Dog T-Shirts. In 2014, after the fire destroyed its original building, the business moved across the street from 10 W. Union St. to 9 W. Union St. The business owners kept ownership of the original lot and opened a new store called 10 WEST Clothing Co. this weekend.

Hannah Morgan, manager of 10 WEST, said that she hopes the city is able to finish the construction soon to help the business.

“It has been a little bit difficult just getting people to realize that there’s a business here, just because construction is still going on,” Morgan said, “That will benefit us once the construction is done no matter what they decide to do with (the neighboring buildings).”

Councilwoman Michele Papai, D-4th Ward, said that construction is already moving forward and that on Monday night they will receive an update from the construction company.

“What we’re going to hear about Monday is the modifications and where they are with the construction and what’s gonna happen.” Papai said.

She said that the city has already finalized their plans for the area.

“We need to keep the parking and there’s going to be two lanes of traffic," Papai said. "That is what’s going to happen."

An unnamed restaurant and a branch of the Ohio University Credit Union will move into the unoccupied storefronts, according to a previous Post report.

There will also be a presentation about possible configurations for the new pool by MSA Consultants, the company designing the swimming pool, at the meeting.

The council will also hold a special session on Monday for the third reading of several ordinances, including preparations for Halloween and the issuance of bonds for the new swimming pool.

@LeckroneBennett

bl646915@ohio.edu

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