Metroparks Toledo and the Toledo Lucas County Public Library will be the two largest recipients of 11 separate grants to be given to the Lucas County Land Bank by the Ohio Department of Development for brownfield remediation.
The funding, which totals $3.2 million, comes from the state’s Brownfield Remediation Program.
Under the terms of the award, the Metroparks will receive $1,052,938 to remediate the northernmost portion of Glass City Metropark so that the area can be developed into an urban campground with a pavilion, cabins, parking areas, and access driveways.
With the addition of $379,812 in partner funds, a total of $1,432,750 will be put toward the project.
“We have all along wanted to have a campground at Glass City,” said Scott Carpenter, the park system’s director of media relations. “That’s been part of the plan from the beginning. This is wonderful news that will help us prepare the site. The grant will be a huge help. It’s not glamorous, but it’s essential.”
Mr. Carpenter anticipates that there will be about a year of design work before construction of the campground begins.
The Toledo Lucas County Public Library will receive $560,049 to remediate the land that was occupied by an old Food Town shopping center on Alexis Road near Tremainsville Road. Partner funding for that project amounts to $2,258,057, for a total of $2,818,106.
The property will eventually become the new home of the Washington Branch Library.
“There’s a building there that used to be a dry cleaner’s,” said the library Executive Director and Fiscal Officer Jason Kucsma. “We found chemicals in the land there that will have to be cleaned up. There’s another building there with a bit of asbestos that also needs to be fixed. This grant will help us address those lingering environmental needs.”
Additional grants include:
● $525,000 for the land bank, in partnership with the city of Toledo and the Lucas County commissioners, to assess the environmental contamination on the nine-acre former Doehler Jarvis site and the four-acre former Craft House site in central Toledo, so that cleanup dollars can be applied for in a future round.
● $107,350 for the Boys & Girls Club of Toledo to remove a blighted building and remediate the soil at its Homer Hanham Club in central Toledo as part of a long-term expansion.
● $69,986 for Three B’s Adventures LLC and the city of Oregon to remediate asbestos in a former municipal fire station on Seaman Road and re-open the building as the home of Buffalo Rock Brewing Company.
● $40,000 for the land bank to remediate asbestos and other environmental contaminants from the former St. Anthony’s church on Junction Avenue in central Toledo to continue to ready the site for redevelopment.
“We are so grateful to Governor [Mike] DeWine, Director [Lydia] Mihalik, and the Ohio General Assembly for investing in this work and supporting so many diverse and important Lucas County projects,” said David Mann, president and CEO of the Lucas County Land Bank. “Our team punched above our weight to secure these dollars. Now, it’s time to get to work.”
First Published August 9, 2024, 9:10 p.m.
