Ziti the Noodle Dog Continues to Recover from Back Surgery
We continue to be incredibly thankful that Ziti is still healthy and active after her surgery almost 2 years ago. In the last few months, the cooler weather seems to have made Ziti even more wound up than usual that even a weekend of agility trials plus agility class once a week can’t seem to dissipate. Ziti ran in the 2025 AKC FastCAT Invitational in October, where she also passed her Fetch Intermediate test, and then ran her fastest time in White Post, Virginia. In her spare time Ziti goes to the park. If you would like a copy of Ziti’s 2026 calendar, click here.
Left: Her expression says it all in this Mark Baer photo from the Invitational – Ziti loves to run! Right: Ziti posing by a colorful tree in Harper’s Ferry National Historical Park.
Progress Continues at Northcoast Behavioral Health Dietary Building
The project recently expanded to include replacement of the existing restroom fixtures and partitions, which everyone thought would look very dated when seen next to the renovated office area around it. After demolition was completed in the kitchen areas, work started on framing the new office walls for the new office suite. This included updating the existing window wall while retaining the existing wheelchair ramp, which provides accessible entry to restrooms for workers in the maintenance building in the rear. Construction is anticipated to be completed in Fall 2026.
Left: Exterior windows and wall being updated. Right: Framing for new offices where the two windows are being updated.
All THAT Teen Center Construction Starts Up Again
After the roof replacement, construction at the All THAT Teen Center went on hold as discussions took place with the City building department on whether the project needed a site compliance plan review. Finally, the building department agreed that since there was an ownership change and not a use change (building was still leased by a church for Sunday services), a site compliance plan was not required. However, since the classrooms were used for after school activities and not Sunday school activities, the examiner required that each classroom have an individual smoke detector in addition to the fire alarm system and rated corridor doors already in the project. After the updated fire alarm plans were approved, construction could finally start on the last phase of the project, which is now scheduled to be completed in January 2026.
Left: New classroom walls going up at rear of sanctuary. Center: New restroom partitions in lower level. Right: Multi Purpose Room renovations underway.
Zanesville Historical Marker Moves Forward
HDC was successful in getting the Downtown Zanesville Historic District listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2024, but one final piece of mitigation remained outstanding: the Ohio historical marker. Ohio historical markers started in the 1950s, born from the 1953 state sesquicentennial, to document important people, places, and events, with the first marker placed in 1957 for Akron’s Portage Path, all managed by the Ohio History Connection (formerly the Ohio Historical Society) to tell community stories through Ohio-shaped signs. The program, run on an annual cycle with sponsor-funded markers, now boasts over 1,700 markers, including special ones for the Bicentennial and LGBTQ+ history, making Ohio’s past accessible.
The company that produced the first historical marker is still producing them today. In 1927, E. M. Hawes founded Sewah Studios (his name spelled backwards) in Marietta, Ohio, to create roadside signs and markers for automobile tourists. Hawes researched and developed a cast aluminum process that was lightweight, inexpensive, and corrosion resistant compared to traditional wood, bronze, or ferrous metal signs common at the time. He also sponsored a cash competition where hand lettering artists submitted designs for capital and lower case letters less than 1 inch in size, which did not exist at the time. Hawes chose a winner, made a few changes, and the Sewah script was born. Sewah’s first commission was for over 500 signs for the Ohio Revolutionary Trail Commission in 1929.
One of the original Ohio Revolutionary Trail markers, shot by Dale K. Benington, on April 6, 2010.
The distinctive Ohio-shaped marker was designed by Sewah Studios, who submitted the winning design to the historical marker committee in 1955. They received the contract to cast the first historical marker in Akron and have been producing them ever since. The process consists of hand assembling the letters and images into a pattern, which is then pressed into fine sane to create a mold. Two halves of the sand mold are then clamped together and molten aluminum is poured into the cavity. The raw casting is then sent to the finishing department who adds the colors to the sign.
The Ohio History Connection’s marker approval process simply involves approving text not to exceed a specific word count and images of a specific size. However, the City of Zanesville required graphics showing exactly what the sign would look like, so HDC traced the outline of a historical marker in AutoCAD and mocked up the text and image for both the Zoning and Building permits, which were received in November 2025. The marker application was signed soon after and we are waiting on a proposed delivery date.
Proposed historical marker Side A and Side B.
Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church Celebrates Jubilee Opening
The Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church received its occupancy permit on November 12, 2025, just in time for the jubilee celebrating its re-opening! Click here for an article and additional photographs of the opening in the Ironton Tribune.
Left: Charissa Durst climbing into the attic during the final punch inspection on 11/7/2025. Center: Contractor Dan Mullins (left) and project manager Lacy Ward (right) with Charissa Durst on the church stoop after the punchlist. Right: Charissa Durst standing at the Jubilee celebration. All photos by Jason Lucas.
Ziti Returns to AKC Agility!
In August, Ziti ran in her first AKC agility trial since her back surgery in January 2024. She was entered in four events each day and was able to qualify in two on each day! Not bad for being out of practice. Her next two-day agility trial took place in Iowa at the National Beagle Specialty, where she earned four 1st place ribbons. She then successfully ran in two days of FastCAT events in Iowa. Ziti also had a great time hiking around in Iowa’s state parks.
Left: Ziti powers through the weave poles with Charissa urging her on. Right: Ziti poses with two of her ribbons.
This photo by Dean Lake of Ziti at the FastCAT event in Iowa just shows how happy she is to be running!
Mount Zion Black Cultural Center Phase 1 Nears Completion
After a very wet spring and early summer, dry weather in late summer allowed Wolf Creek Construction to complete most of the exterior excavation and waterproofing, start the elevator addition, and pour the main basement floor slab. The floor is an 8” thick mat slab with 12” thick areas under future column locations. The floor is also heavily reinforced and attached to the exterior walls so rising water will not be able to dislodge it. One of the workers commented we could park an airplane in the basement! Wolf Creek Construction has also been awarded Phase 2 to rehabilitate the rest of the building, which will start once Phase 1 is closed out.
Left: View of the mud pit in the basement in April. Center: Rebar and vapor barrier being laid in preparation for the new concrete floor slab. Right: The new basement floor in September.
New Storage Building at Fernwood State Forest
The Fernwood State Forest storage building is almost complete, just waiting on final inspections and cleaning. The building has four storage bays with overhead doors, one of which has overhead doors on both the front and rear walls to allow vehicles to pull into the building to be loaded and unloaded out of the weather. On the east side of the building is a rainwater harvesting system that stores water from downspout runoff in an underground tank for washing vehicles outside. The Foresters should be able to start moving materials and equipment into the building in the next few months.
Exterior and interior views of the new storage building, which is almost complete.
Ohio’s First Black Church Nearing Renovation Completion
The Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in South Point had some state grant money redirected to another project, so some items not essential to the occupancy permit had to be postponed. These included items such as the new wood floor, installing the original tin ceiling and the replacement pieces, new window and door casings, reinstalling the wood wall base, and interior painting. The exterior painted wood handicap ramp has also been swapped for a premanufactured aluminum ramp. The owners are hoping to raise enough private funds to finish the remaining work this year.
Left: View of the northeast corner of the church, which is still awaiting delivery of the new custom front doors. Right: Interior looking northwest toward the location of the new egress door, which will lead to the wheelchair ramp.
Hardlines Design Company Welcomes Luis Andujar
