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                        Ford  City Restores  a  Former
                        Industrial Site, and  Itself
L
                                  Ford  City,  PA
         ocated some 40 miles northeast of Pittsburgh along the Allegheny
   River, Ford City, Pennsylvania is an example of how a community can
   rebound from a severe economic blow. Only a few years after the loss of
   an industrial institution that was the borough's largest employer, Ford City is
   in the process of creating new commercial, industrial, and recreational space
   that will be home not only to new industry, but green space and an 8,000
   foot walking trail along the river, a public meeting  house, and a museum
   celebrating Ford City's industrial heritage.

   The company that left Ford City in 1993 was the same company that helped
   build the city more than 100 years earlier.  Pittsburgh Plate Glass Industries,
   Inc. (PPG) established itself in Ford City in 1887 and at one time employed
   5,000 workers and was the largest plate glass factory in the world. But
   through a slow decline that started in the mid 1960s—attributed to shrinking
   markets and labor disagreements—PPG reduced operations and finally, in
   1993, shut down entirely. By  that time nearly 45 percent of Ford City's
   population (approximately 6,200 residents during its heyday) had left the
   area.  A statue of the town's founder, PPG's "father of plate glass" John B.
   Ford, that once surveyed the bustling PPG plant, found itself gazing at  57
   acres of idle property representing Ford City's only developable land.

   Seven acres of this land came under ownership by Ford City in 1999.  This
   seven-acre parcel had been sold to another company in 1981, who then
   leased it to a third company, AMCO, for a foundry operation. AMCO filed
   for bankruptcy in 1995 and abandoned the site, leaving behind three empty
   buildings and unknown levels of contamination from more than a century of
   industrial uses. While PPG entered the state's Voluntary Cleanup Program,
   and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP)
   performed $225,000 worth of preliminary assessments on the former AMCO
   property, additional assessments and sampling were required to confirm the
   Pennsylvania DEP's findings and develop a cleanup plan.

   EPA's Brownfields Pilot, awarded to Ford City in 1998, enabled more detailed
   assessments of the former AMCO property, discovering arsenic and lead in
   the soil and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the groundwater.  In

                                                      continued ^
JUST THE FACTS:

•  In addition to  assessments,  the
  Brownfields Pilot assisted Ford City in
  ongoing negotiations with PPG to turn
  over the former plant property to the
  town,  following the company's own
  environmental investigation.
•  With more than $ 1 million required for
  cleanup and more than $4 million
  estimated to restore existing buildings
  on just one portion of the site, Ford City
  enlisted the support  of several
  partners—both federal and state—to
  move  forward  in creating the new
  Heritage and Technology Park (F£AT).
•  When complete, the F£AT will feature
  more  than 90,000 square feet of
  commercial, office, and light industrial
  space, and will  house a business
  incubator, a video conference/distance
  learning center, and a museum paying
  tribute to Ford City's 105 years of glass
  making.
                                                                           Pittsburgh Plate Glass
                                                                     Industries, Inc. (PPG) established itself
                                                                       in Ford City in 1887 and at one time
                                                                      employed 5,000 workers and was the
                                                                     largest plate glass factory in the world.
                                                                        By the time the company ceased
                                                                        operations in 1993—following a
                                                                       decline that had started in the mid
                                                                        1960s—nearly 45 percent of Ford
                                                                     City's population had left the area. The
                                                                      57 acres that were home to the empty
                                                                       glass plant represented Ford City's
                                                                           only developable land.

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  addition to assessments, the Pilot assisted Ford City in ongoing negotiations with PPG to turn over the
  remaining 50 acres to the town, following the company's own environmental investigation.
  In October 2002, the deed for the remaining 50 acres was transferred to Ford City
  Borough, providing the town with the entire 57-acre site for cleanup and
  redevelopment.
                                                                          CONTACTS:
                                                                          For more information contact
                                                                          US EPARegion 3: (215) 814-3132
                                                                          Or visit EPA's Brownfields Web site at:
                                                                          http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Ford City Borough created the Greater Ford City Community Development
Corporation (GFCCDC) in 1999 to administer grant funding and develop
brownfields.  Quarterly public meetings were held to allow community
participation in determining the site's reuse. The result was a plan for the
new Heritage and Technology Park (FIAT), which will feature more than 90,000
square feet of commercial, office, and light industrial space within PPG's former
machine shop. The HAT will house a business incubator, a video conference/
distance learning center, and a museum paying tribute to Ford City's 105 years of
glass making. The 50-acre site has space for 10 to 14 new companies. Redevelopment
plans also include a 3,000-square-foot office/public meeting house, installation of 8,000 feet of
walking trails along the river, a new parking area, and a wall to protect against river flooding. As a result
of site restoration efforts, the Borough now has its first ever green space along the river.

With more than $ 1 million required for cleanup and more than $4 million estimated to restore existing
buildings on the seven-acre, former AMCO site alone, Ford City needed the support of several partners—
both federal and state—to move forward in creating the HAT. A grant from the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development's Economic Development Initiative provided $1.5 million  for
redevelopment of the three former AMCO buildings.   The Economic Development Administration
contributed $5 81,000 to rebuild the former foundry building. The state contributed $3 million in the form
of a capital budget award. The Steel Industry Heritage Corporation put in $75,000 toward creation of the
industrial heritage museum. And the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers donated approximately $ 1 million in
services to restore the flood prevention wall, install a new parking area, and create a 500-foot walking
trail. A match of $265,000 was contributed from the PA DEP for the river wall project.

Cleanup and restoration has been finished on the 30,000-square-foot, former ARCO Foundry building.
The building is now home to OEM Shades, a window blind manufacturer with the potential to create as
many as 125 jobs by the end of its 5-year lease period.  Cleanup is also complete at the HAT's second
building, a 60,000 square-foot structure that is now in the design stages for reuse. Startup of the HAT is
the first step in a maj or restoration for a town that less than a decade ago watched its hopes for prosperity
vanish.

Because of these efforts, Ford City was adopted by the Pittsburgh Federal Executive Board to demonstrate
successful partnerships between the federal government and grass roots revitalization efforts. The city
was also nominated as a "Rebuild America" community model by the Department of Energy, which
provided technical expertise to ensure that the HAT's buildings would be energy efficient.
Brownfields Success Story
Ford City, Pennsylvania
                                            Solid Waste
                                            and Emergency
                                            Response (5105)
      EPA 500-F-03-032
             May 2003
www. epa.gov/brownfields/

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