NEWS

First phase in Dutro mega-dealership complete

Eric Lagatta
Reporter

ZANESVILLE - A state-of-the-art car service facility is now open along South Street, completing the first phase in a multimillion-dollar project that officials hope revitalizes downtown.

Dutro Ford Lincoln and Nissan opened the new facility two weeks ago after completing months of construction work. The 38,000-square-foot building can store up to 27 vehicles in need of maintenance and also houses a parts department.

"It's a dream come true," co-owner Bryan Graham said. "This is just where it needs to be."

It's part of an estimated $13 million to 15 million project aimed at transforming Dutro's downtown campus into a mega-dealership by mid-2017. The company has previously purchased and demolished several buildings comprising six acres that will be the site for a new showroom, car wash, green space and parking lots.

In the process, Graham said he expects to add roughly 25 jobs.

But it's as much a substantial investment in the community as it is in the company, officials say: Once completed, the dealership will draw people downtown, which will in turn boost the business at other nearby restaurants and stores.

Brian Cartwright, Fixed Operations Director at Dutro's in downtown Zanesville, talks about the dealership's new service building.

"We have thousands of cars that come see us a year," said Adam Graham, a manager at Dutro. "It's about how many people are going to keep coming to the downtown area."

The facility adds something unlike anything else downtown, or even within the county, Zanesville Mayor Jeff Tilton said.

"It's not only good for Zanesville, it's good for the surrounding community," said Tilton, who was part of a group of city officials to tour the new building Wednesday morning.

The facility, which opened Jan. 22, sits on the corner of Fourth and South streets. It has served an average of 40 vehicles a day, although Bryan Graham said he hopes to boost that to about 60.

Dutro officials spared no expense on the $6.5 million facility, from the heated floors atop nine inches of concrete to a 360-degree photo booth for the cars the business features online.

"We definitely spent the money," Bryan Graham said. "Everything is absolutely brand new."

Two separate bays can service or repair up to 27 vehicles at a time, said Brian Cartwright, the fixed operations manager. Some of the bays are equipped to lift a regular 10,000-pound car, but some can lift up to a 54,000 pounds, whether it be a school bus, mobile home or fire truck.

"There's not a vehicle in this town that we can't lift to work on," Cartwright said.

Much of the equipment also integrates advanced technology, such as mobile column lifts for bigger vehicles, motion sensor garage doors, and an automated tire machine that changes tires up to 50 inches.

Four of the bays are equipped to service a car in as few as 20 minutes. A laser atop the lift helps technicians quickly align a vehicle's tires.

"It really is an incredible facility," Cartwright said. "There's just truly nothing like this."

A worker looks for a part in Dutro's new service building's parts department. The department takes up two floors in the new building.

The facility is twice the size of the previous service building, yet uses half the energy, Bryan Graham said. The heated floors run on three gallons per hour of used oil, and the building is illuminated by natural light and LED bulbs. It also includes Wi-Fi.

Now that the facility is open, Dutro construction crews will demolish the former service building on the east side of Fifth Street, which has stood since 1976, said Cole Graham, a manager. That demolition will make way for a new showroom and sales building.

The current showroom across Fifth Street on the west side also will come down, making way for an inventory building, additional parking, a green space and an flagpole.

Crews also plan to soon break ground on an automated 80-foot car wash along Fourth Street, the previous site of Zanesville Police Department's evidence building, Cole Graham said.

elagatta@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

740-450-6753

Twitter: @EricLagatta