By George Breithaupt, KnoxPages.com Reporter
GAMBIER – The face of the Village of Gambier is undergoing a change as part of the Kenyon College master plan. The plan covers many aspects of the Kenyon College experience and one aspect of the plan is the revitalization of Gambier
Residents have already seen major changes being done on Middle Path and the dismantling of the old People’s Bank building. Also scheduled for Gambier’s main commercial area of Chase and Gaskin Avenues is the demolition of the part of Farr Hall north of the Kenyon College Bookstore which is to be replaced with three commercial spaces. These buildings will more closely resemble the buildings at 101 – 105 Gaskin Ave. and the buildings at the southern end of Chase Ave. New buildings will also be built on Chase ave. on either side of the Post Office building.
Kenyon’s Chief Business Officer, Mark Kohlman says the Middle Path construction is on schedule and, “Will be ready for sure in three weeks.”
The paving material will take about a week to lay down and two weeks to set.
Work on the new building where the old bank building stood should begin soon Kohlman indicated.
“We are just waiting to get the permits from the state,” he said, “And then we can begin work on it.”
Kohlman said once the building is complete they will wait until the Village Market’s busy season is over, around next April, and then they will begin the transition to its new space.
The demolition of Farr Hall will also begin about next April and the new buildings will be built. Just north of the Kenyon College Bookstore which will have professional offices on the second floor. The new commercial buildings will have student housing on the respective second floors. The Gambier Deli is expected to be relocated in one of these buildings and the northern most building, where the market is today is being built to possibly house a restaurant.
The one parcel of land not owned by Kenyon on Chase Ave. is the Post Office which is on Federal property. Between the Post Office and the proposed Village Market space will be another commercial with housing above.
The final change along Chase Ave, will be another commercial building with student housing. This will go in the space occupied by the Post Office parking lot.
College Park St. will also be the site of two new townhouses for student housing in the future, Kohlman indicated. But in spite of this new construction there will not be an appreciable increase in student housing spaces with just a handful of new rooms.
The revitalization of Gambier will also have an impact on the village itself. The most immediate impact involves the current rerouting of U.S. 36 due to culvert replacement. This has routed traffic onto hio 308 and through Gambier where all the construction is going on.
“It creates a lot of congestion,: said Gambier Mayor Kachen Kimmel. “It makes it difficult for people to get where they want to go. They can’t get to the Post Office or the Village Market with all the congestion.”
Many of the long term effects on Gambier are yet to be seen. However, the infrastructure of the village will be able to handle the changes easily, according to Kimmel.
“Our wastewater plant is not operating anywhere near capacity,” she said. “We can handle a lot of growth and an increase in population before we approach our limit.”
The same thing goes for the village’s water supply. Gambier purchases its water from the city of Mount Vernon. The water situation has changed for the better over the course of a decade or more.
“I have to hand it to previous (village ) councils and administrations,” Kimmel said. “They have addressed a serious problem with our water service and corrected it.”
Water loss from a seriously compromised system was due to its age. Kimmel said she believes water loss was around 60 per cent at one time and it has gotten down to about 10 percent or less.
“Our water system can handle whatever growth we might see in the village,” Kimmel said.
At this point it is still up in the air as to what Kenyon will do with the new commercial spaces.
“We don’t know as yet what Kenyon might do with these spaces,” Kimmell added. “There is talk of a new restaurant possibly going in and, of course, the Village Inn will still be there. The owners of the Village Market are excited about the move into the new facility where the old bank building used to be. It will have a lot more modern facilities including a new freight elevator to bring products up into the market.”
All in all, Kimmel is excited about the future of Gambier and what the new changes will bring.