MEDINA, Ohio – The last year proved to be a busy time in Medina with 22 ribbon cuttings, the addition of 1,341 full-time jobs and 122 part-time jobs as well of the completion of some major infrastructure projects. Mayor Dennis Hanwell highlighted some of the big projects that have taken place in Medina over the last 12 months during his annual State of the City earlier this month.
“The state Route 18 improvements were completed and that was a $43 million project with a portion of the project taking place in the city,” Hanwell said. “The West Smith Road project, which took place from Court Street to close to State Road was completed. That was a $6 million project and a third of that was funded with federal grant dollars.”
Hanwell said that during this term, he and city staff members agreed they wanted to tackle a number of complex projects to improve the city. He added that the partnership the city has with Main Street Medina, the Medina Chamber of Commerce as well as the county and the state has helped make many projects a reality.
Hanwell first mentioned the Meijer construction project taking place on North Court Street at the former Kmart location. He said Meijer had been interested in the property for some time, but hadn’t been able to get a response from the out of state property owners. But earlier this year, demolition took place and Meijer is preparing for their $20 million investment in the city. Hanwell also thanked Economic Development Director Kimberly Marshall for securing a $500,000 grant to help fund the demolition of the former Kmart building.
Back in June, a groundbreaking took place for the Acme Fresh Market construction project off South Court Street. Hanwell said the project is a $13 million investment and will include a 56,000 square foot grocery store. Additional stores will be added north of the main building in the future.
Renovations will also take place soon at the 1969 courthouse building where the city has a 33-year lease. The space will be used to house Medina Municipal Court and will offer twice the amount of space as well as more modern security measures.
Hanwell also touted the Legacy Hotel project that will take place in the historic district as a game changer for Medina. He said the hotel will have four floors, 77 rooms, three upscale restaurants and a 6,000 square foot convention center.
“Every year we have roughly 350 wedding photo shoots in our square, but they come for the photo shoots and leave because there is nowhere to stay,” he said. “With the hotel and convention center, they could stay two or three days and that would benefit all of the businesses on the square.”
Hanwell also mentioned that many of the city’s industries bring in business visitors, but currently there is nowhere for them to stay inside of Medina.
“We also have some very large annual events like the Ice Festival and the Candlelight Walk and having the hotel on the square would allow visitors to stay for more than one day,” he said.
For the complete State of the City address, visit the Medina TV Facebook page.
