MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — We got our first look at what could replace Middletown's historic Manchester Inn property as council members turn from the idea of salvaging the 103-year-old building toward a proposal aimed at honoring the property's history with new uses.

CMC Properties CEO Jim Cohen told Middletown city councilmembers and residents that their proposed mixed-use property would preserve as much history as possible and pay homage to the property's past use at a town hall meeting on Tuesday.

"This development is not about wiping the slate clean," Cohen said. "This development is about caring for the Manchester's story in a building that actually works for the next 100 years."

In the new proposal, the bottom floor of the new building, bearing a sign reading "The Manchester," would have

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