BEREA, Ohio – A recently announced $60,630 Ohio Department of Development grant will defray the cost of removing an underground tank from a vacant city-owned Front Street property slated for possible future redevelopment.
“We’re excited to get another grant from the state department of development, this time to remove an abandoned underground gasoline storage tank,” Berea Economic Development Director Matt Madzy told cleveland.com in an Oct. 18 email.
The grant is part of the Ohio Department of Development’s brownfield remediation program. Berea’s award is part of $29 million the state distributed for clean-up and redevelopment of 36 hazardous brownfield properties across Ohio.
According to the grant application, the underground gas tank project, located at 785 Front Street, involves removing the tank and then “remediating contaminated soil on a former gas station and car wash site.”
The city also received $200,000 in state grants in August to address two other Front Street sites. A defunct laundromat building at 822 Front Street will be demolished using a $55,000 grant, while the former Williams Ford property at 731 Front Street will have subsurface materials removed, with a $145,000 grant offsetting that cost.
Future redevelopment of the remediated properties has yet to be determined, but Mayor Cyril Kleem has for many years envisioned revitalization of the north end of the city along Front Street.
Haslam Sports Group recently announced plans to transform 16 acres adjacent to the nearby Browns training facility into a mixed-use destination, with the conceptual plan showing an upscale hotel, apartments, retail space, a Fan Experience feature, medical facility and community athletic field.
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