Florence is reimagining its East Side, with City Administrator Joshua Hunt unveiling draft plans for five city-owned properties.
Hunt briefed the Florence City Council at its Aug. 26 regular business meeting on upgrades to the properties.
The discussion centered on proposed master plan improvements for five East Side properties. “Some of them we’ve owned for six, seven years. Some of them we’ve recently purchased within the last year,” Hunt explained.
Hunt showed a series of slides with draft renderings for work at the Florence Nursery property, 7424 and 7420 U.S. 42 property, the Main Street property and the First Baptist African American Church.
The Main Street Property is the site of a former strip mall that Hunt said might have been built in the 1970s.
“The city purchased this within the last few years and had it demolished,” Hunt said. “We got a lot of requests in the city from vendors that want to sell vegetables, they want to sell crafts, they want to have a Findlay Market-type vibe that you can go in, set up, sell things, do programming.”
The city has been working with Cincinnati-based architecture firm KZF Design on the improvements. Hunt explained that the council will hear more about the projects during next year’s budget cycle.
Draft rendering for proposed improvements to the City of Florence First Baptist Church site. Photo provided | City of Florence 
Draft rendering for proposed improvements to the City of Florence First Baptist Church site. Photo provided | City of Florence 
Draft rendering for proposed improvements to the Senior Center property. Photo provided | City of Florence 
Draft rendering for the Main Street Property improvements. Photo provided | City of Florence