Group wants to turn Towne Square land into market district, ‘a stopping place’

The city of Xenia plans to sell most of the land where the Town Square was located, land a community improvement corporation wants to use to create a market district to attract visitors to the city’s downtown.

>> EARLIER COVERAGE: City Council to vote on Town Square concept design

Neighbors called the parcel, left vacant since the K-Mart was razed in 2016, a hole in the middle of town.

“It puts a hole in the middle of the town for sure,” said Scott Storer, a city resident most of his life. “It’s something that needs to be taken care of.”

Storer wants the renovations to include room for activities directed toward children, something he said he believes Xenia doesn’t have enough of.

“A fun house, somewhere to play games or something like that,” he said, attempting to describe his vision.

As News Center 7′s Mason Fletcher reported at 6, this news organization has been told the city’s plans include a focus on young people and also has learned that the changes can be expected to begin after the city transfers the land to the community improvement corporation, which will lead the project.

“So restaurants, retail, entertainment, those kinds of things are all the things that they’ll be looking for this new area,” said Donna Saraga, with the Xenia Area Chamber of Commerce and part of the community improvement corporation.

>> RELATED: Vacant buildings in downtown Xenia being razed

Xenia’s bicycle paths welcome pedalers from all over, Saraga said, and that fact is a reason the plans are to include things for cyclists to do when they visit.

“We want to provide them a stopping place, a place to eat, a place to rest, a place to shop, and entertainment for them while they’re passing through,” she said.

Storer, for his part, is excited for the changes and said he looks forward to spending his money in Xenia.

“That way we don’t have to spend all our money in Beavercreek,” he said.