Cleanup will begin soon at the former site of the Lancaster Glass facility downtown now that a $2.5 million state grant has been awarded.
The Clean Ohio Council on Wednesday awarded the city of Lancaster and Wagenbrenner Development Inc. a Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund grant to clean the brownfield site at 240 W. Main St.
Environmental cleanup of the site could take up to two years, but existing building foundations and concrete likely will be removed in the next several months, said Mike Pettit, the city's development director.
"There are certain metals and things that are contaminating the ground from years of manufacturing," he said. "It will remove all the foundations and the concrete and all that and make it a development-ready site."
Groundwater beneath the site also has been contaminated, Pettit said, but the grant will pay to clean it.
"It will be a fairly lengthy process to clean that water," he said. "They put some treatment in it to kind of link things together so it's easier to extract. All the dirty soils and groundwater that are removed will be treated and moved off site."
Pettit said Wagenbrenner has redeveloped brownfields throughout Ohio.
The company plans to build a 33,000-square-foot combination building for residential and retail use and a second 9,800-square-foot retail building on the site, according to an Ohio Department of Development press release.
"The fact that we are going to get something developed there to anchor that corner is a huge win for downtown," said David Uhl, executive director of Main Street Lancaster. "This is a huge corner, possibly the busiest in Lancaster."
Main Street Lancaster studies have concluded that people want more night life and entertainment downtown, Uhl said.
Members of the organization have spoken to Wagenbrenner about what could be built on the site, he said.
"There are any number of things I'd love to see down here," Uhl said. "It's about getting the place developed and the right tenants and the right entrepreneur to make that happen."
The Lancaster Glass buildings that once stood on the site were demolished by its parent company, Lancaster Colony, in 2008 and early 2009, Pettit said.
Wagenbrenner officially bought the property from Lancaster Glass Corp. for $0 on Jan. 12, according to county property records.
To apply for the state cleanup funds, the city acted as a public sponsor on Wagenbrenner's grant application but has no financial liability for the site, Pettit said.
"It's great news for our downtown and great timing as we're working on some other stuff downtown," Pettit said.
You are not logged in, please sign in to view contact
Info release
Promotion
Building shop
Online business
