CONVENTION CENTER
Shreveport, LA
Revolving Loan Fund Grant
A Brownfields Intervention Results in the New Shreveport Convention Center
ADDRESS:
PROPERTY SIZE:
FORMER USES:
CURRENT USE:
400 Caddo Street, Shreveport, LA 71 101
IS acres
Confederate arsenal and military complex; system of wharves,
docks and warehouses; sawmill; foundries; warehouses;
railroad; former power plant
Shreveport Convention Center
EPA GRANT RECIPIENT:
The City of Shreveport
utilized $400,000 in EPA
Brownfields Revolving
Loan Fund funding.
PROJECT PARTNERS:
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ),
Shreveport Department of Community Development,
Downtown Development Authority, U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Shreveport
Public Assembly and Recreation (SPAR), Red River
Waterway Commission
* Shreveport
For additional data and
geographic information for
this and other
Brownfields Grants, please
visit EPA's:
Envirofacts -
www.epa.gov/enviro/html/
bms/bms query.html
Enviromapper -
www.epa.gov/enviro/bf
LOUISIANA
PROJECT BACKGROUND:
During the Civil War, the property served as the grounds for the Confederate States Army and later became part of a system
of wharves, docks and warehouses during the height of the steamboat era. Subsequently, the property became an integral
part of the region's railroad system and a portion was utilized by Shreveport Gas and Electric Company for nearly 60 years.
For the last 25 years, the property has been virtually abandoned. To spur economic redevelopment and community
revitalization, the City of Shreveport identified the property in 1999 as a potential location for the proposed Shreveport
Convention Center. In 2001, the City of Shreveport completed environmental investigations of the property under an EPA
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot. These investigations identified arsenic, benzo(a)pyrene, and other
contaminants at concentrations that exceeded both federal and LDEQ standards.
KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
• Leveraged $102 million in public and private funding for assessment,
cleanup, and redevelopment activities.
• Removed 38,005 cubic yards of soil contaminated with petroleum
products and arsenic, 45,260 gallons of fuel oil and water, and two
underground storage tanks (USTs); sealed two USTs; disposed of three
oil/gas wells; and excavated two 100,000-cubic-foot natural gas
storage basins.
• Leveraged an estimated 1,100 in cleanup, construction, and
redevelopment jobs.
• One of the first projects to enter the LDEQ Voluntary Remediation Program.
OUTCOME:
The City of Shreveport used $400,000 from an EPA Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund to clean up a portion of the
15-acre property, and then leveraged an additional $ 102 million from public- and private-sector sources for cleanup and
redevelopment, transforming the former brownfield into a state-of-the-art convention center. The 350,000 square-foot
facility—the second largest convention center in Louisiana and the largest in the tri-state area—features modern, high-tech
meeting and exhibit space. The Shreveport Convention Center opened its doors in January 2006, serving as an anchor and
catalyst for area redevelopment; a 317-room Hilton Hotel will open in the near future and connect directly to the facility.
ConventionSouth, the South's leading meetings industry magazine, presented the Shreveport Convention Center with its
annual Readers' Choice Award in December 2006.
The completed Shreveport Convention Center.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ or call EPA Region 6 at (214) 665-6780
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