Two local projects are receiving state funding to clean up vacant properties and prepare them for future redevelopment.
Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jim Tressel, and Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik announced more than $15.5 million in grants through the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program to help communities across 35 counties assess and clean up contaminated properties.
In Logan County, the Logan County Land Reutilization Corporation was awarded $105,543 for cleanup work at 149 West Columbus Avenue in downtown Bellefontaine.
The grant will fund asbestos abatement in the building, which was constructed in 1927 and has previously served as a bar and later as a church.
Once remediation is complete, a local nonprofit organization plans to convert the building into a children’s museum.
In Champaign County, the Champaign County Board of Commissioners received $299,347 for the Sycamore Street project in North Lewisburg.
The funding will pay for Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments, an asbestos survey, underground storage tank removal and closure, and other environmental corrective actions at the site of a former gas station and auto repair shop.
Once the environmental work is complete, the buildings on the property will be demolished to prepare the site for future redevelopment.
The Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program helps communities assess and clean up abandoned or underused industrial and commercial properties so they can be safely redeveloped.
Since the program launched in 2021, nearly $800 million has been awarded to support more than 900 projects across 87 Ohio counties.
