KC metro to receive $5.75 million in EPA grants, including funds for Parade Park co-op
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Federal funding through the infrastructure plan will help clean up potentially polluted communities across the Kansas City metropolitan area, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday.
Kansas City will receive $5.75 million in Brownfields and Revolving Loan Fund grants. There was $254.5 million available for 265 communities, according to a news release from the EPA.
Of that, $850,000 will target two sites within Parade Park Homes, a historic 510-unit housing cooperative located near the heart of Kansas City’s 18th & Vine neighborhood. And $1 million will be accessible to the Unified Government of Kansas City, Kansas, and Wyandotte County.
“The federal resources shared today will support both the assessment of sites and the redevelopment of existing buildings critical to the continued reinvestment in communities throughout Kansas City,” Mayor Quinton Lucas said in a statement.
Brownfield grants are designated for areas that may contain hazardous materials and are meant to redevelop such properties. Parade Park, which was built in the early 1960s, used to hold a laundry plant, dry cleaning operations, a paint and varnish manufacturer, and a car repair garage.
Residents of Parade Park have been left in limbo over recent months as the community, one of the first Black-owned housing cooperatives in the nation, faces potential foreclosure unless a redevelopment plan is established in the coming months. The mortgage of the property is owned by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which recently gave Parade Park a failing grade as many of its townhomes are in severe disrepair. The co-op has been given until July 7 to come up with a plan to address “severe deficiencies” identified in the HUD inspection.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver said he is excited to see the federal spending law help “critical, long overdue initiatives like this reach the heart of Missouri’s 5th Congressional District.”
“It’s projects like these that are going to help us build a better America in Kansas City and beyond.”
