The state Department of Environmental Quality recently awarded $500,000 from a brownfield redevelopment grant to conduct an environmental assessment study on the Far East Side Redevelopment Project. The redevelopment project is considered to be thecity's--as well as one of the nation's--largest efforts to revive a blighted urban neighborhood, some 1,200 acres bordered by Jefferson, Warren, Conner and Alter.
The city will first pay to survey a section of the area that has been identified for housing. The state will then reimburse the city.
"[Some of] the land has sat vacant for years so there's concerns over illegal dumping on the property," says DEQ spokesman Robert McCann."Basically, we don't know the extent of the contamination so we need some baseline testing."
Through foreclosures and tax reversion, the city has taken over control of more than 60% of the area's property. Last year, the city formally began work on a master plan to revive the community. Eventually, the city hopes to see as many as 3,000 new homes in the region, along with neighborhood stores and related commercial uses.
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