MOUNT VERNON — After a four-year search for new space, Knox Public Health announces the purchase of property in downtown Mount Vernon. Plans call for development of a new combined location for the health department and the Knox County Community Health Center.
“The downtown area has always been the desired destination for a new location,” Health Commissioner Zach Green said in a press release. “A downtown location offers better access for our health center patients and a centralized site for public health services.”
The property sits on the north and south sides of the 200 block of West Vine Street and includes several public and private parking lots. It also includes 202 W. Vine St., the former location of Strang Glass.
Strang Glass, one of the oldest businesses in Knox County, closed its doors today, Dec. 22, 2022. Of selling the properties to KPH, owner Jeff Ulery said “it’s time.”
“I am ready for retirement,” he told Knox Pages. “I am 63, and I am ready to enjoy my family and grandkids.”
Ulery said COVID-19 and the inability to find and retain workers also influenced his decision to retire.
“I sold the property, but the business part of it is still for sale,” he said, adding that he plans to list the business, equipment, and inventory.
The Knox County Board of Health and the health center’s Co-Applicant Board approved the $2.5 million purchase last week. The health center will repay a 10-year loan using program income from the center. No local tax dollars will be used because they are appropriated for operational expenses and cannot be used for property acquisition.
Green and former Health Commissioner Julie Miller have long talked about the lack of space and increasingly cramped quarters at 11660 Upper Gilchrist Road.
The health department moved to the Upper Gilchrist Road location in May 2001. In April 2017, the health center opened inside the health department, offering dental and medical services. In 2019, the health center opened offices in Danville for medical and dental services.
Since then, the health center has expanded its services to include mental health counseling at all locations and added medical, dental, and counseling staff to accommodate the growing demand for services.
In 2021, the health center expanded again to include Moore Family Practice on South Mulberry and the Walk-in Clinic in Foster’s Pharmacy on West High Street. The lease on the South Mulberry office expires in 2023.
Along with additional locations and services, the number of patients served has nearly quadrupled with more than 9,000 patients being served this year.
“Ideally, we need a facility where all sites in the Mount Vernon area can be centrally located,” Green said in the release. “That includes services and staff from the Upper Gilchrist Road location, the Women Infant & Children (WIC) division located on Coshocton Avenue, and Moore Family Practice.
“Combining all of the services and staff under one roof is more cost efficient, enhances availability of resources, and promotes access for all.”
In September, Green told the county commissioners that health officials were looking at a five-year plan, but what he needed was a six-month plan. The West Vine Street purchase provides that.
“This offers the immediate square footage available that we need,” Green told Knox Pages today. “We will be able to use some of the facilities and free up our office space [in the Upper Gilchrist location] for other use.”
Short-term plans include moving administration staff into the residence at 201 W. Vine St. and remodeling the 4,000-square-foot Strang Glass building by December 2023. The next phase is to erect a new building for the health center over the next three to five years.
Specific details as to size of the new building or how it best fits the property footprint are not yet known.
Green said it is important that public health services be within the new facility since KPH works hand-in-hand with the health center to address health inequities. Health center patients benefit from public health programs such as tobacco cessation, Children with Medical Handicaps, infectious disease investigation, and adult and child immunizations, among other services.
“There’s no reason to travel to another location to access these services when visiting the health center,” Green said in the release. “To be financially efficient and productive to meet the needs of the community, we need to move everyone together in a new centralized location.”
Plans for the new West Vine facility will not affect health center services in Danville.
Strang Glass
The history of Strang Glass started when Jeff Ulery’s great-grandfather, Lafe Strang, moved from Fredericktown to Mount Vernon in 1889. In 1890, he opened L.F. Strang in a former fire station on the north side of Vine Street. The company manufactured buggies.
Lafe’s son, Faye, joined the company in 1919 and the company moved to 104 W. Gambier St. At the same time, the company name changed to L.F. Strang & Son Buggy Shop.
After his father died, Faye became the owner of the Faye L. Strang Glass & Body Shop, which he operated for more than 40 years. When he retired in 1969, he sold the business to his nephew, William “Bill” S. Ulery.
In 1973, Bill built the new glass shop building at 202 W. Vine St., the shop’s present location. Bill’s son, Jeff, often worked with his father while growing up. In 1995, Bill sold the business to Jeff.
Jeff’s retirement and the sale of the property to Knox Public Health ends a 132-year history of a family owned business making a tremendous contribution to its local community.
Information courtesy of strangglass.com.
