Smokestacks will remain as brownfield funds pave way for trails, housing in Summit County
Eleven brownfield sites ranging from cornerstones of Akron’s history as a rubber capital to locations with names familiar to generations of Summit County families will get millions of state dollars for clean-up and redevelopment.
In Akron, parts of the first rubber business in the city — the former B.F. Goodrich power plant located in downtown Akron — are set to be remediated by removing asbestos and demolishing unsafe buildings.
Portions of Building 59, an older building on the west side of the canal next to the smokestacks, are slated for demolition.
“Right now, it’s very unsafe in there,” said Brad Beckert of Akron’s Office of Integrated Development. “We can’t do a whole lot inside because the building is in such a bad shape. We don’t want people to get hurt doing anything in there.”
The two iconic B.F. Goodrich brick smokestacks in downtown Akron are safe, though, for now.
Beckert said the city will probably have to take the smokestacks down eventually, but that it wasn’t in the plans for this project and there wasn’t a timeline for when it might happen.
“Those are something that eventually we would have to take a look at because they’re not in great shape either,” he said.
Changing skyline:B.F. Goodrich smokestack getting cut in half to 'RICH'
The efforts are part of the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program, which provides funds for the remediation of brownfield sites in Ohio that are underutilized due to a known or potential release of hazardous substances. A brownfield is any previously developed land that is not currently in use.
The program will provide nearly $350 million in grants across the state. Almost $20 million has been distributed to projects in Summit County so far.
“We’re not creating any new land anymore, so we have to reutilize land. A lot of these brownfield areas — which are in the central city — are prime locations for, as I’ve described, for residential or commercial structures,” Beckert said. “It’s very important for us to be able to clean these up and to make them usable for developers to commit to reuse the property within the city.”
Akron received nearly $5 million from the state for remediation at the former power plant. The city currently does not have a specific plan for what the site will be used for once it’s cleaned up, but Beckert said there are multiple developers interested in the property and it could be turned into a residential or commercial structure.
Demolition of Building 59 will hopefully start at the end of this year or the beginning of next, Beckert said. The property will likely not be ready for redevelopment until the middle of 2024.
New trails and green spaces planned for Summit County
State officials are cleaning up the brownfield sites with hopes the properties can be part of future economic development. In Summit County, those plans include expanding the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, building new spaces for residential and commercial use and establishing new trailheads.
Last year, the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park bought 207-acres of the former Brandywine Country Club, which closed in 2018. Now, the conservancy has received $4.5 million from the state to help move forward with environmental restoration plans in order to eventually sell most of the land to the National Park Service.
“It’s important because of its proximity to the river that the land stay as clean as possible, so we don’t have any leaching of chemicals or contamination into the river,” said Stacey Rusher, the conservancy’s project manager. “Not only fof the river but also of Lake Erie and also for the flora and fauna that will call that property home.”
Plan to expand park:Conservancy for CVNP buys former Brandywine golf course, despite Peninsula's opposition
The conservancy intends to return the land to its natural state by reseeding it with local plants, removing invasive species and restoring wetlands and buried streams. The former golf course at 5555 Akron-Peninsula Road is adjacent to the Virginia Kendall area of the park to the south, Boy Scouts of America camps Manatoc and Butler to the east and the Cuyahoga River to the west.
“We want people to have access to the Cuyahoga River and space to enjoy, so access to the river will be key to us,” Rusher said.
Final uses for the land have not been decided, but Rusher said ideas include establishing hiking trails and picnic spaces.
In Cuyahoga Falls, the former Mud Run Gun Club at 333 Pleasant Meadow Blvd. eventually will be turned into a trailhead for hiking paths in the region.
Currently, the soil at the gun club, which has sat vacant since 1995, is contaminated with lead. The city, which received just over $1 million from the state, plans to start treating the soil and installing a “soil cap” to prevent lead from leaching into groundwater or the nearby Mud Brook at the end of this year or early next year. They hope to finish by the early summer of 2023.
“The city is grateful to be the recipient of these valuable grant dollars so that the property can be safely and sustainably cleaned up and repurposed,” Mayor Don Walters said in a news release.
“With the Cuyahoga River and the many hiking and biking trails of the Summit Metro Parks and Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Cuyahoga Falls is a hub for recreational opportunities, and the remediation of the Mud Run Gun Club will help us expand recreational access in our city.”
Parts of Akron’s history as rubber capital to be demolished
Two of the other sites set for demolition also represent Akron’s heyday as a tire and rubber products manufacturing capital.
The former Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. Mix Center at 1080 River St. is within a couple hundred feet of the complex that is now the East End office. Paul Harris, general manager of the East End development, told the Beacon Journal in April as the application for funding through the brownfield remediation program was pending that plans were to demolish the plant and leave the space as a green buffer.
Harris said recently that those plans remain the same now that the grant for $6.4 million has been awarded. The project is currently waiting for the process to begin as they go through the state’s steps.
Reshaping Akron's East End:Demolition planned for former Goodyear building
At the former Atlantic Foundry in Akron, the Summit County Land Bank plans to use the $1.8 million it received from the state to remove waste materials, asbestos and underground storage tanks from the property, as well as demolish the building. Before it closed in 1989, the company manufactured iron castings for the rubber, steel, automotive and mining industries in Akron.
The plan is for the property to be used to expand nearby businesses.
“It’s in a really good location, and it’s a property that needs cleaned up,” said Patrick Bravo, Summit County Land Bank's executive director. “It’s adjacent to a residential neighborhood, and I’m sure the residents are going to feel really good about the work that we’re doing.”
New residential and commercial spaces
The remaining brownfield sites awarded funds in Summit County received smaller grants — $250,000 or less — for environmental assessment surveys or smaller cleanup projects. They are largely planned to be redeveloped for residential or commercial use once remediated or do not have set plans for redevelopment yet.
Barberton received two grants — one for the Powell and Barberton Herald buildings and the other for South Van Buren Avenue parcels; both of these areas are to be redeveloped for commercial use. The city also plans to make the two buildings open to residential use and build a recreation trail connected to the site of a nearby quarry on the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath on the parcel’s land.
Cuyahoga Falls’ South Front Street will gain 50 new townhomes once existing structures are demolished with the help of brownfield awards. The city anticipates that the homes will be completed by 2024.
Hudson received funds to remove asbestos-containing materials from the former Youth Development Center site along Hines Hill Road. The city plans to turn the land into a commercial office park.
The former Buckley Towing in Coventry Township and Canal Place in Akron also received grants.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Smokestacks stay put as cleanup funds pave way for new trails, housing
