Indianapolis brownfield gets new beginning
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Neighbors and local leaders team up to turn the dirt at 2179 N. Illinois St. Photo: Justin L. Mack/Axios
A Near Northside brownfield long marked for remediation is finally getting cleaned up and potentially replaced with new housing.
Why it matters: Abandoned or underutilized sites known as brownfields are one of the many environmental factors that contribute to unfair housing in the Circle City.
- While the parcels of land at 2179 N. Illinois St. have a rich business history dating back to the early 1900s, they've sat unused for years.
Driving the news: On Monday, Near North Development Corp. gathered community members and civic leaders to kick off the site cleanup, which is expected to last until around Thanksgiving.
- The remediation work, led by the Speedway-based Wilcox Environmental Engineering, will provide a pathway for a nearly $8 million townhome development at 22nd Street and Illinois that is still pending city approval.
Between the lines: Because brownfields are designated as less severely contaminated than Superfund sites — which are deemed a national cleanup priority — they are usually not eligible for federal funds and oversight for remediation.
Zoom in: This project is being funded with support from IU Health, the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership and the Indianapolis Foundation.
- City-County Council president Vop Osili said the project, which will focus on providing affordable housing to bolster the city's workforce, will address the "large gap" in middle housing that Indy is experiencing.
What they're saying: "The brownfield problem is not just here in Indianapolis. It's across the state, and to be able to turn these sites into a usable asset is not easy," Brian Carman, president of Near North Development Corp., told Axios.
- "This is the culmination of a lot, and we've learned to celebrate some of the smaller victories that would be a part of something much bigger," he said. "It's not common to celebrate the excavation of dirt, but here we are."
Flashback: The site operated as a dry cleaner from 1965 to 1995, and historic records indicate the area housed either a laundry or cleaners as early as 1915.
- Tetrachloroethylene detections in soil and groundwater were reported to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management in 2017.
- The site was entered into the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's (IDEM) State Cleanup Program in 2017.
- In 2020, Near North Development Corp. enrolled the site in IDEM's Voluntary Remediation Program.