Main Street Makeovers
Kim Zarney works on revamping and restoring town buildings. He works on exterior and interiors.
July/August 1980
By the Mother Earth News editors
If you take a look at MOTHER NOS. 9 through 25 (with the exception of issue 12), you'll see the considerable talent of Kim Zarney displayed on the front covers. Nowadays, though, Kim has a much larger "canvas" to work with. For the past seven years his firm, Townscape (Dept. TMEN, 30 Public Square, Medina, Ohio 44256, 216/725-6273), has done design consultation for nearly 40 communities . . . on projects ranging from the revamping of an individual building rid of the maze of poles, meters, signs, and other unintegrated objects that have been tacked on during the last 45 years." (During Medina's remodeling, workmen found a virtually priceless Tiffany glass sign perfectly preserved under a "modern" plastic placard!)
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Most town centers also require improved lighting and pavements, more crosswalks, a general cleanup of trash, paint (or its removal to show the original brickwork underneath), some restraint make them enticing and to bring them in line with the requirements of local building codes."
But when such upper floors are remodeled in keeping with their architectural potential, the landlords suddenly find that they can get rent money they never had before . . . and some property owners are even turning such areas into beautiful apartments, to encourage people to live downtown. Of the more than 40 buildings (some with three stories) to renovation concepts for entire downtown areas!
Mother's former cover artist, Kim Zarney, has widened his scope to...
A HOMETOWN EXAMPLE
Zarney's interest in urban beautification started some 16 years ago, when he was still a student at the Cleveland School of Art. At that time, his hometown of Medina undertook what still ranks as one of the nation's most successful "Main Street" restoration projects. Since Kim's father (a commercial artist) was a leading figure on the Community Design Committee, the son soon became involved in Medina's program. And the benefits that the restoration subsequently brought to the Ohio town made a lasting impression on the young artist.
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