12/30/2005
Media Contact:
Justin Ohlemiller, DMD [317] 327-6709
Will Pritchard, LISC [317] 396-0588 |
 |
City, LISC end 2005 with additional grants aimed at cleaning-up blighted, contaminated sites in neighborhoods
Indianapolis – In a year that saw major investment in the city’s continued effort to clean up and redevelop abandoned, contaminated properties in local neighborhoods, the city’s Department of Metropolitan Development and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) today announced a second round of neighborhood brownfield grants totaling more than $22,000.
The grants were awarded to two Indianapolis area community development corporations to support clean up and redevelopment plans for two blighted brownfield sites, bolstering ongoing neighborhood revitalization efforts on the city’s near north and southeast sides.
The awards bring to a close a year of significant progress in the city’s push to address abandoned or underutilized properties where redevelopment is hindered by either real or perceived contamination.
This past April, the city and LISC announced more than $31,000 in neighborhood brownfields grants, and one month later, the city’s brownfields program got a major boost from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency when Indianapolis became one of two Indiana cities to earn a $200,000 grant. The EPA grant and the city’s 2005 neighborhood brownfields funding will support environmental testing and bolster redevelopment efforts for more than 20 potentially contaminated sites in Indianapolis.
"This year was one of great progress for our brownfields program, which is aimed at protecting the health and safety of our residents and spurring economic development in neighborhoods that need it most," said Mayor Bart Peterson. "The focused efforts in 2005 have gone a long way toward helping communities remove barriers to redeveloping potentially contaminated sites, creating additional investment in those properties and in surrounding areas."
The final neighborhood brownfields grants for 2005 will go to the following community organizations:
Southeast Neighborhood Development Corporation (SEND), $13, 900
The grant will fund additional environmental testing on parcels spanning from 1821 – 1849 S. Shelby, clearing the way for the site to be redeveloped into meat market and possibly other commercial uses.
Martindale-Brightwood Community Development Corporation, $8,260
Funding will support phase one environmental testing at 1101 E. 16th Street. Future plans for the site include a two-story, mixed-use development encompassing neighborhood retail and artists’ studios.
Created in April 2002, the neighborhood brownfields grant program is funded by the city through federal dollars from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as matching funds from LISC. Since April 2002, the program has provided more than $180,000 to 17 local organizations.
-more-
Brownfields 2005
Pg. 2
Brownfields redevelopment was a major plank in both of the Mayor’s "Peterson Plans." In the Mayor’s first term in office, the city invested more than a million dollars in brownfields redevelopment. While some of the funding was utilized for a few large-scale projects, the neighborhood brownfields grant program has targeted smaller projects initiated by community development corporations and other not-for-profit organizations.
Some of these successful brownfields projects funded by the grant program include:
- 1520 N. Alabama -
This site was the former location of a taxi company. Underground storage tank removal and site assessment was conducted with a $7,500 City of Indianapolis/LISC brownfields grant, and the site is now being redeveloped into condominiums.
- Cit-E-Scapes
– A $1,600 grant awarded to Concord CDC funded site testing at 1218 S. Meridian. The test results showed no contamination, and a small start-up business, Cit-E-Scapes greenhouse, was able to open shop on the abandoned property.
- East 38th St. Library Branch
– The Indianapolis-Marion County Library Association utilized $15,000 in brownfields grant program funding to perform site clean-up and soil remediation at 5452 E. 38th St., making way for the new library branch that now serves the public on the city’s northeast side.
The 2006 neighborhood brownfields grant application will be available starting in January 2006. Information on the city/LISC brownfields program is available online at www.indygov.org/dmdplan/brownfields or by calling brownfields coordinator Chris Harrell at (317) 327-5845.
LISC is a nonprofit support organization that works to transform urban neighborhoods by providing capital, technical expertise and training to community development corporations.
- 30 -
|
