Project 535 Second Street

For many years, 535 Second Street has been a whimsical surprise in Portsmouth’s historic Boneyfiddle-- a standing façade with no walls or roof, and an overgrown jungle at its center. While picture perfect in its unique nature, it has been a danger to passersby and a waste of space for a prosperous and evolving downtown. For as many people who have stopped in front of the façade to snap a “selfie” or take an in-depth photo of the wild nature behind historic exterior, there are equal people expressing concern about it causing harm to someone downtown.

This project will see Main Street Portsmouth developing 535 Second Street into a beautiful public space with a garden and seating area, behind the preserved historic façade

Main Street Portsmouth has built a Go Fund Me campaign after hearing from people within Portsmouth, as well as those who have moved away, who are interested in making a donation to assist us in our mission of redeveloping 535 Second Street from dangerous jungle to beautiful garden.

This is truly a partnership of community members. The city and county worked together on getting the property into our hands. The Port Authority has made the first contribution of $3,000 to see it through. The local Scioto County Career and Technical Center has committed themselves to much of the work to make it happen. Neal Hatcher is working with us to excavate and cleanup. OSCO is helping us with steel and safety reinforcement. Gina Chabot donated time on the original concept design. There are a lot of hands working to make this project happen. While most of the labor is free, formal plans, legal work, specific contracted work, and the cost of construction materials/ decorative pieces and flowers are not.  Given that we have so many hands on this project, donating what they can, we don’t have a formal and specific estimate to accomplish the project in its entirety. We do have a rough idea of cost, as well as plenty of plans to grow the space moving forward, and have set a fundraising goal of $75,000.  If the situation arises that we raise more than we need for construction, the remainder will go into a special account solely for maintenance and onsite programming in coming years.

Main Street Portsmouth is a nonprofit in downtown Portsmouth with over a decade of experience when it comes to placemaking, events, and beautification.  We oversee 100+ flower pots, urns and tree wells, as well as downtown parks and public spaces. We also host nearly 50 events a year and host a plethora of programming for the benefit of downtown and business community.

Questions may be answered by visiting Main Street at the Scioto County Welcome Center, 342 Second Street, Portsmouth, Ohio; by telephone, at [phone redacted]; and by email, at [email redacted].