More than $800,0000 is coming to Summit County to help clean up and reuse former industrial sites. The money will help ready properties for new development, setting the stage for the creation of as many as 20 jobs.
The two projects funded by the Ohio Department of Development’s Brownfield Remediation Program aim to clean up a former industrial site and a one-time auto salvage site.
The money is just the latest in a series of grants the state has made over 10 rounds of funding. In the past, Summit County received about $33 million for more than 180 projects, representatives from the Summit County Land Bank said previously. The land bank administers the money.
In this round of funding, the land bank will receive $476,280 to clean up an industrial site at 1025 Sweitzer Ave. The money will go toward creating a barrier for the contamination caused by the businesses that were there, Star Rubber Co. and Portage Machine & Engineering Co.
In a previous funding round, the state awarded nearly $300,000 to assess the properties at 1025 – 1035 Sweitzer Ave., which have been vacant since the 1980s, for redevelopment. They had oil-stained concrete, a transformer room with possible chemical contamination, asbestos-wrapped piping and a 100-gallon oil storage tank. That award said the work could help create 10 jobs in the area and contribute to economic stability.
The latest pot of money will make the property viable for redevelopment, according to the award. Other nearby properties have been successfully redeveloped following similar remediation efforts, and the Sweitzer Avenue property is expected to be revitalized as well.
Additionally, the land bank received $334,807 to remove contaminated soil at what appears to be a Superfund site at 2977 Manchester Road in Coventry Township that was home to Buckley Towing. The property is near homes and businesses as well as waterways.
The project would prevent further risks to the environment and get the site ready for future development. It could also create 10 jobs.
A spokesperson from the land bank did not respond to a phone call or an email seeking more information about the projects.
Summit County money part of statewide revitalization effort
The state’s money has “helped transform hundreds of unsafe, blighted and abandoned sites into new centers of opportunity,” Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement. In the latest funding round, 43 cleanup projects received a total of $57.7 million and eight assessment projects shared $1.7 million.
Since 2021, a total of 681 projects have received $716.9 million across 86 counties, the state said. Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik said in a statement the program “turns potential into progress” by building apartments where factories once stood and putting small businesses in once-vacant buildings.
“When we clear away what’s been holding our communities back, we make room for what’s possible,” she said.
And Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel said in the statement that revitalization efforts that make use of underused land can change lives in the state.
“These projects prove that economic growth doesn’t always require starting from scratch,” he said.
