Revitalizing Southeastern Communities Louisville, KY Reclaims its Riverfront 2002 Phoenix Awards Winner Thirty years ago, Louisville's waterfront was notoriously blighted. The proliferation of junk and scrap yards along the Ohio River earned it the unflattering moniker, "Junk City," and its main claim to fame was that it was used for the car-crushing scene in the James Bond movie "Goldfinger." The area was also cut off from the rest of the downtown by a six lane elevated highway. In addition to the visual blight, both the soil and groundwater in the area were polluted with a vast array of contaminants. In 1990, the Louisville community launched a visioning process to help chart a course for the City's future. The community recommended that the city break out of the mold of a 9-to-5 city, and instead make Louisville a 24-hour city where people could work, play, and live. To accomplish this goal, the community came up with a Master Plan that focused on the City's many advantages, and one of the highest priorities was to reclaim the waterfront. Soon after, a public/private partnership launched an effort to begin reclaiming the waterfront beginning with the cleanup of a 72-acre parcel. Louisville Slugger Field, a minor league baseball stadium, and a new 55 acre urban park, aptly named Waterfront Park, were chosen as the new uses for the area. The area was marred by a range of contaminants left behind from more than 150 years of industrial uses. The most seriously contaminated soils were removed from the area and, where possible, lightly contaminated spots were contained or subjected to a pump-and-treat-process with long-term monitoring to ensure the natural attenuation of the contaminants. The Waterfront Park was dedicated in 1999 and today over 1.25 million people visit each year for concerts, fireworks, festivals, and genera! recreational uses. The park features a beautiful great lawn for games and concerts, a festival plaza for special events, an extremely popular children's play area, and a sculpted linear park with picnic areas, groves of trees, walking and jogging paths, a boat docking area, and breathtaking views up and down the Ohio River. Before Louisville Slugger Stadium opened in 2000 as the home to the Cincinnati Reds' Triple A minor league affiliate, the Louisville Riverbats. The stadium is incorporated into a historic rail freight depot that dates back to the 1800s and serves as the stadium's entrance. The depot houses retail and restaurant space. The stadium seats 13,000 and attracted 668,000 visitors in its first two years of operation. Together these waterfront redevelopment projects have generated millions of dollars in private investment, including the rehabilitation of abandoned or under-utilized buildings, the creation of new waterfront housing opportunities, and new office space. ------- Louisville and the Louisville Waterfront Redevelopment Commission have completed work on Phase II of the Waterfront Park. This second phase added approximately 35 acres to the park, including another, much larger, children's play area, a small cafe, a rowing facility for school and community rowing groups, and an amphitheater. A pedestrian connection to Southern Indiana across the old Big Four railroad bridge is planned for Phase III. Louisville's waterfront project won the 2002 Phoenix Award Grand Prize for Excellence in Brownfield Development and serves as a model for successful waterfront brownfields revitalization. More importantly, the city has a new, welcoming face and has shaken the "Junk City" image. Contact: Bonnie Biemer Louisville Development Authority 502-574-4140 bbiemer@louky.org After ------- Bend, OR Turns Abandoned Timber Mill into New Waterfront Destination A scenic, historic site along the Deschutes River that formerly housed two of the world's largest sawmills has been transformed into a dynamic mixed-use development that is attracting tourists and new residents to the center of Bend, Oregon. The redevelopment of this integral part of the City's past has restored economic vitality and a bright future to the center of Bend. At their peak, the Brooks-Scanlon and Shevlin-Hixon sawmill operations ran around the clock and employed more than 2,000 workers each. Dwindling timber supplies starting in the 1950s led to the gradual decline of the mills. The entire site was abandoned in 1994. The 270-acre site included areas for log storage, dry kilns, on-site power, vehicle maintenance, petroleum storage tanks, wood treatment, charcoal manufacturing, and a railroad. In August 1992, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) inspected the facility and found several areas where hazardous substances were improperly stored or had been released into the ground, contaminating 180 acres. Initial investigation and removal actions followed from 1993 until 1996, when the site's developer signed a voluntary cleanup agreement with DEQ to complete remediation. The State made a no-further-action determination for the site in 1999. There were several major challenges at the site. To prepare for redevelopment, grading, fill and removal were necessary for up to 12 feet of sawdust and wood waste. Riparian restoration called for removing the boulders and large blocks of concrete that had been used to stabilize the river bank. However, perhaps the greatest challenge was rezoning the site from heavy industrial use to mixed commercial and residential use. Developers worked closely with City staff, the regional planning commission, City officials, and community members to draft an innovative mixed-use riverfront zone that would allow for the incremental redevelopment of the site. The zoning gave the developers flexibility to pace and tailor the redevelopment to market demand. This was especially important in a small city of 50,000, where the market may take years to absorb large amounts of office, retail, and residential space. This incremental, market-driven approach helped make the project financially viable for the potentially long period between initial planning and final build-out. It took four years to clean up the site and nearly nine years to redevelop it. The full redevelopment, including a multiplex cinema and 6,000-seat open-air amphitheater, will take an estimated 18 years. The previous owners and site developer shared cleanup costs totaling $1.25 million, and the entire development will cost an estimated $400 million. During its first year of operation, the new retail/entertainment center had gross sales of $19 million. It employs approximately 1,700 people in retail, food service, office and technical support professions. Businesses on the site are expected to eventually employ a total of 5,500 by 2020. ------- Contact: Mary Campbell River Bend Limited Partnership 541-382-6691 mary@wspi.net ------- East Moline, IL is a Small City that Transformed a Landfill to Waterfront Condos In the 1990s, East Moline, Illinois was a Mississippi River town without a public waterfront. The town was landlocked from the river by the legacy of generations of former industry. The community was told the traditional model would be to build commercial on existing properties, and hopefully attract other developer interest that could integrate some elements of public access. This community of less than 25,000 residents ignored "typical." Instead, they took back their riverfront by transforming the industrial landfill to residential use. Where not long ago dump trucks rumbled, residents today watch the river roll by from private decks. Where wetlands were once described as "a developer's nightmare," school children will watch bald eagles soar over the waters from the new River Interpretive Center that will open in 2005. Recognizing the need for professional creativity and planning to make their vision a reality, East Moline prepared a redevelopment and economic redevelopment strategy that would simultaneously develop the riverfront and assist the revitalization of downtown. Community-minded citizens formed Revitalize and Develop East Moline (REDEEM), a not-for-profit organization to help lead and fund the initiative. Funds raised by REDEEM, were used for preliminary due diligence, environmental, and economic development studies, and other activities to foster economic development. A community vision, The Quarter: A Brownfields Riverfront Redevelopment, emerged. The Quarter vision was to create a 100-acre hourglass-shaped zone of mixed-use development along the Mississippi River. This incremental, market-driven approach helped make the project financially viable for the potentially long period between initial planning and final build-out. Studies have estimated at least $40 million in private sector investment could be generated over the life of tax increment financing. The public sector will have to contribute approximately $15 million. But where to begin? The most readily available riverfront property had been used for decades by an agricultural implement manufacturer to dispose of miscellaneous residues and fills. The resulting 10 to 15 feet of industrial fill produced chemical impacts in all areas of the initial 12 acres of the development fronting the river. In 1998, East Moline won its first EPA brownfields grant. From 1999 to 2000, Phase I, II and 111 environmental studies were conducted on an expedited basis for the proposed condominium areas using the EPA brownfields grant in combination with an Illinois brownfields redevelopment grant. Peripheral wetland areas deemed "problems" by early prospective builders were cleared of junk and debris and restored to habitat and wildlife preserves. Builders were identified to construct a series of $250,000 to $550,000 riverfront condominiums. During 2000 and 2001 remedial action plans and risk-based closures were obtained for riverfront Lots 3, 4 and 5 incorporating a groundwater ordinance as a land use and environmental control. ------- Environmental assessment/remediation costs on reused areas were less than $200,000. These included innovative approaches reached through a consensus of stakeholders, state agencies and technical consultants. The cost savings were significant when compared to the initial $1.2 million "hog-and-haul" industry approach. East Moline's innovative approach incorporated significant elements of the remedy into construction. No further remediation letters were issued by the voluntary Illinois Site Remediation Program and supported builder lock-in of financing. In 2001, infrastructure and the first phase of condominium site preparation and construction was underway. Construction used lot-specific soil management plans to maintain land use controls. 2002 and 2003 saw additional Phase II and III environmental assessments under a supplemental EPA brownfield assessment demonstration grant for Lots 2 and 6. Construction was completed on the second phase of condominiums using soil management plans. In 2004, East Moline saw the public dock areas connected by water taxi to other Mississippi River communities in the area. The Quarter realized its vision as a "go to" destination for the community's 4th of July celebration. Now, evaluation for peripheral commercial interest and construction of a new welcome center continues. The long-term vision calls for a sports complex known as Gateway Park. Since 1999, the unsightly landfill has been transformed into private condominiums, private and public docks, a new bike and jogging path, new infrastructure with river access and restoration of wildlife and ecological habitat areas. This project already provides a source of living and entertainment accommodations that benefit the entire region. Contact: Richard Keehner, Jr. 309-752-1513 rkeehnerjr@eastmoline.com Tim Knanishu 309-765-2790 knanishutimj@johndeere.com Dave Koch 800-595-4368 dekoch@terracon.com ------- |