A property in Belding will be redeveloped with help from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). A $27,500 grant was awarded to the Ionia County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority to revitalize and safely reuse a former gas station property located at 429 North Bridge Street.
The MDEQ brownfield grant will be used to evaluate the property and plan for its safe reuse. Testing results will indicate whether environmental cleanup is needed before the property can be reused.
The site is located in a residential neighborhood adjacent to Ellis Elementary School. The old gas station has been demolished, but broken concrete and asphalt have made the site a neighborhood eyesore. Belding Area Public Schools plans to redevelop the property with a parking lot serving staff and school families.
The MDEQ partners with communities to protect public health and the environment and revitalize contaminated property. MDEQ grants and loans pay for environmental investigation and cleanup on brownfields. Brownfields are vacant or abandoned properties with known or suspected environmental contamination.
Partnerships between MDEQ and communities have created $4 billion in private investment and 29,000 new jobs over the life of the Brownfield Redevelopment Program. Each grant and loan dollar invested by the MDEQ in 2017 to protect residents and the environment is expected to return an average of $32 to the stateās economy. When brownfields are redeveloped, property values increase both on the revitalized site and on other nearby properties. Learn more at www.michigan.gov/deqbrownfields.
