Engineers Help to Create a Dream Downtown for Ohio Village
Dennison, Ohio
Mayor Greg DiDonato has spent a lot of time in Dennison, Ohio. He was born and raised in the small town that sits equidistant between Columbus and Pittsburgh. He was elected mayor when he was 21, he represented the area in both chambers of the state legislature, and he is currently serving as mayor once again. Over the course of all those years in his hometown, he has never seen it look as good as it does right now.
“I’m turning 65 in May,” said DiDonato. “Our downtown’s the best it’s been in my lifetime.”
A downtown revitalization project is to thank for the fresh look along the Grant Street corridor. The overhaul, completed in 2024, included both practical and beautification elements for the town nicknamed “Dreamsville.”
“We assisted the village with upgrading their lighting,” Nathan Quicksall, PE, who worked as the Project Manager for the Grant Street upgrade, said. “We replaced the storm sewer, which had been causing them some issues. We replaced sidewalks. In order to keep with the decorative theme, we did brick inlays in the sidewalks.”
The project was completed last year by W.E. Quicksall & Associates, in conjunction with construction work performed by Wegner Excavating. W.E. Quicksall & Associates is an engineering firm with a history in Ohio dating back to 1959. The family-owned business joined Spicer Group in 2025. Quicksall explained he has worked on many projects for the village of Dennison, but this one stands out.
“This will raise the bar now. To have the town, to have the wineries, the food, the nice restaurants, the coffee shops, the walkability of everything now – the safety, the lighting of it. It just plays hand in hand that it has now made us a good one-day destination area,” DiDonato said. “We have a lot more inquiries now that people are thinking about wanting to develop a business here.”
Safety-related upgrades include pedestrian bump-outs to provide more visibility for pedestrians strolling along the downtown streets. And while they are walking, there is plenty of beauty to take in, including granite inlays in bricks. Those elements were funded by local sponsors that paid $5,000 each for the inlays.
“The uniqueness of this project is we raised about $700,000 all said and done,” DiDonato said. “All the benches you see, the train bike racks, the trash cans and the new planters were not paid with taxpayers’ money. That’s money we raised.”
“This was an interesting one, because it had a lot of beautification elements – that isn’t typical for communities. Normally, it’s a waterline needs to be fixed, so let’s get funding for that and replace that line,” he said. “For this one, (Dennison) really wanted to kind of spruce things up. It really just came down to the collaboration with our team and just working with the community closely; getting their input along the way, and just leveraging that trust with our client.”
DiDonato and Quicksall both say collaboration is what was at the heart of the success in completing this dream downtown in Dreamsville.
“We’ve had a great relationship working tightly to enhance our community,” DiDonato said.
The Dreamsville name was coined by soldiers during WWII who visited the canteen at the Dennison Railroad Depot. The railroad is an essential part of Dennison’s history, as it was once a major employer. It also represents American history, with the depot noted as the best remaining example of a WWII railroad canteen, providing traveling soldiers with essentials and creature comforts as they were transported across the country. Now recognized as a National Historic Landmark, the train depot is one block off Grant Street, where the recent improvements were made. While no longer serving as a freight route, tourists and locals can still hop on a themed train ride during events taking place throughout the year.
“We tried to implement some of those touches to bring in the whole railroad theme for the village,” Quicksall said. “Our crosswalks are designed to look like rail lines, with the crosshatching.”
On top of making the downtown corridor look good, DiDonato said the upgrades have created buzz among other local communities that have reached out to inquire about the changes. He also has seen positive outcomes and opportunities for the village of approximately 2,600 residents.
Quicksall and his team provided a key element to get those donors on board, according to DiDonato.
“He gave me the tools; the schematic designs to go around to our businesses and civic organizations,” he said. “That helped to be able to go out and to raise the money, because we were able to build this vision, this idea of what we wanted.”
On top of donor funds, the village used COVID relief dollars to pay for the lighting upgrades. A $278,000 federal grant was awarded to the community and local officials agreed to use the majority of it on the beautification project.
“They have a really tight-knit community. They were all in favor of the project. They all worked together collaboratively,” Quicksall said. “We were just basically the vessels that put the plans together and made sure the contractor installed the project the way it was designed.”
Since Quicksall & Associate’s has joined Spicer Group, DiDonato said he is looking forward to the continuing relationship with Quicksall and the Spicer team.
“It’s been a great experience to work with Nate and Quicksall, and now Spicer Group,” DiDonato said. “I think together we’ve done a lot to move this community forward.”
