Zelienople, PA. Downtown Revitalization: The Vision
The project will build upon the existing assets of Zelienople’s historic central business district. The assets of the downtown might be summed up with the metaphor “Jewel in the Rough”. Those rich assets include the traditional architectural look of two and three story buildings that line Main St., the Four Corners Parks, buildings listed on the historic register, the restored Strand Theatre, specialty shops such as jewelry, retail stores and commercial offices, restaurants, library, churches, premier and expanding retirement community and adjacent location to interstate highways.
The marketing vision for downtown is to target expansion of specialty shops, restaurants, office space and development of premier condo and apartment offerings on upper floors serviced by elevators and other amenities. The creation of prime real estate location for these markets will be achieved through the restoration and revitalization of Zelienople’s downtown as a welcoming, attractive and economically viable Main Street District. There is a growing awareness that the enclosed retail mall development of the last fifty years has peaked. The new real estate direction is to build retail and commercial shopping districts, called Life Style Centers, that replicate the look and feel of the traditional historic Main Street. The vision is to restore the Zelienople “Jewel in the Rough”.
The restoration and revitalization of downtown will build upon Zelienople’s unique assets, history, architecture and community traditions. Major envisioned components of the Zelienople Downtown Main Street project will be:
- Pedestrian Sidewalks. A new decorative and safe sidewalk system with accessibility provisions will welcome and facilitate pedestrian walking within the entire downtown district and provide attractive people connectors to new parking lots behind or adjacent to buildings.
- Decorative Street Lighting with Underground Service. With photometric study, illumination standards will be achieved within an historic light fixture that addresses the needs of pedestrians as well as vehicular traffic. Overhead wires will be cleaned up and consolidated on one side with underground service connections.
- Four Corners Parks. They will be further enhanced to welcome and to accommodate people and activity. The vision is to enhance the downtown with a “community living room”. – Traffic Calming Enhancements. An example would be pedestrian street crossings evidenced thru appropriate contrasting materials or design to signal the motorist that he or she is entering a pedestrian district.
- Parking. Improvements will be addressed to existing lots and to new lots behind or adjacent to buildings.
- Trees and Landscaping. The greening will be designed to add a quality environment in the downtown district. Appropriate street trees will be selected to avoid blocking the sight line of first floor windows and signage.
- Street Furnishings. They will build from the design of the attractive new benches and trash receptacles installed over the past years.
- Infrastructure Systems. These critical systems will be evaluated and improved as needed including storm, sanitary, water, street pavements , curbs and gutters and manholes, intersections and traffic flow, and traffic signalization.
The revitalization project will encompass improvements to the entire Zelienople Downtown Main Street District. It will create a strikingly attractive and welcoming sense of place where people want to do business, to shop, to walk, to have fun, to live. The design vision will be enriched with extensive community input. The process will be overseen by the new Zelienople, PA. Revitalization, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, the Borough of Zelienople, and the specialized revitalization consulting firm of E.G.&G., Inc.