The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and Franklin Regional Council of Governments will also get Environmental Protection Agency grants
View full sizeThis is an artist's rendering and blueprint of the Union Station Regional Intermodal Transportation Center planned for Springfield's old Union Station on Frank B. Murray St. The design is by HDR, an architectural and engineering firm.SPRINGFIELD – The city and two regional organizations will receive federal funding to help revitalize abandoned properties.
The Environmental Protection Agency awarded $400,000 to Springfield to help with the cleanup of Union Station. The former railroad station on Frank B. Murray Street was built in 1926 and has been abandoned since 1973.
A $70 million reconstruction project is set to begin in the summer of 2012.
Called brownfields grants, the funds help “communities to assess, cleanup and redevelop abandoned or contaminated properties ... to protect health and the environment, create jobs and promote economic re-development,” the EPA said in a press release.
“It’s absolute great news for us,” said Christopher Moskell, the city’s interim chief development officer. “It will advance the project, which is in the permitting phase.”
Cleanup will have to be done and two underground tanks which were part of the former Hotel Charles have to be removed. He said he was unclear on what the tanks held. Surrounding soils will have to be removed, as well, he said.
Removal will also be done inside the former baggage and terminal buildings.
“This ... is most welcome and we’re just so fortunate to have it,” he said.
The Franklin Regional Council of Governments will receive $200,000. Their plan is to hire an engineering firm to identify and assess problem sites in the region to help owners better understand the costs of redevelopment, said director of planning and development Peggy Sloan.
The council has received four such grants in the past. They have funded assessments and cleanup for 40 projects in 15 towns, she said.
“One of the biggest issues with brownfields sites is the unknown,” said Sloan. By covering the costs of the assessments, the council frees up funding for potential developers, identifies possible hazards and sometimes determines that a site can be developed without further cleanup, she said.
Soil and groundwater testing costs between $25,000 and $50,000, she said, and many developers are unwilling or unable to pay for it.
The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission will receive $500,000 in supplemental funding for its community-wide revolving loan fund.
“We have a regional loan pool of funds for projects around the Valley that are seeking to do cleanup,” said PVPC executive director Timothy W. Brennan. “Projects start to move forward and, over time, the monies are paid back at a very attractive interest rate.”
The grant “allows us to continue to make progress on the environmental front (and) economic development and redevelopment projects that would otherwise get stuck,” he said. “It’s a big win for the region.”