FRAZEYSBURG – It’s almost like a moment frozen in time. Light trickled in through some windows and a skylight and sat in stasis. Frazeysburg’s former Second Street Grill nearly looks as if it just closed.
The dining room is almost completely untouched. Dishes are stacked in the kitchen, menus were scattered about and salt and sugar shakers are still organized behind the counter.
It’s been seven years since the diner at 9 Second St. announced its indefinite closure on social media. It’s now up for sale through the Muskingum County land bank with a minimum bid of $44,000. Bids must be in to the land bank by 4:30 p.m. June 25, said it executive director Andy Roberts.
“I think this property is in the best shape of anything else we have ever received,” Roberts told the TR. “The roof needs some attention, as well as the exterior, but the interior really just needs a healthy cleaning and some minor work.”
The old diner was first built in 1920 and has been some sort of restaurant for most of that time, also including the former Bobbi’s Grill, Tarman’s and Emily’s, explained local historian Lavern Merkle. It also used to have a pool hall in the basement, remnants of which are still lingering below, like old trophies, racecar photos and a mounted buck.
Second Street Grill used to feature a menu heavy on breakfast dishes, burgers, hot dogs, and sandwiches, but some of its more unique and rural classics included a jalapeno popper burger, deep fried bologna sandwich and BELT (bacon, egg, lettuce and tomato sandwich).
The building has around 1,020 square feet in its dining room, kitchen, and backrooms and another 1,020 feet in the lower level. It was remodeled in 1995, according to the Muskingum County Auditor’s website. The 0.2-acre plot sits next to Frazeysburg’s village hall and across the street from the fire department.
The plot was most recently bought in 2012 for $134,000. Other older transfers include a $75,000 purchase in 2003 and another for $12,000 in 1994. It has a taxable valuation of $25,140, according to the auditor’s assessment.
The land bank took ownership of the former restaurant May 22 as a tax forfeiture after it failed to sell twice, Roberts noted. A future sale comes with a reversion clause, he added. It’ll be based off the awarded bidder’s timeline but cannot exceed 24 months. Otherwise, the land bank gets the property back.
The land bank has nearly 50 Muskingum County available for sale, Roberts added. For questions, more information or to express interest, contact Roberts at 740-455-7195 (ext. 120) or aeroberts@muskingumcounty.org.
Shawn Digity is a reporter for the Zanesville Times Recorder. He can be emailed at sdigity@gannett.com or found on X at @ShawnDigityZTR.
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: A century on Second Street. Historic diner awaits its next chapter
Reporting by Shawn Digity, Zanesville Times Recorder / Zanesville Times Recorder
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By Shawn Digity, Zanesville Times Recorder | USA TODAY Network
