West College Street will be in the spotlight as the city looks for ways to preserve the past as well as breathe new life into the area. Two public meetings are scheduled in the coming week to engage local residents and gather feedback for a revitalization plan and a historic survey.
The city is beginning two efforts that will examine and collect information about the College Street corridor. Iowa-based Eocene Environmental Group has been engaged to develop a strategy for revitalization of the corridor between Grant Avenue and Kansas Expressway. Meanwhile, Michigan-based Loggia Preservation has been hired to conduct an intensive-level historic resource survey of West College from Grant to Scenic Avenue/Chestnut Expressway, according to a city news release.
Revitalization plan
The revitalization effort of the College Street corridor will focus on redevelopment, environmental assessment and community-driven planning as it falls within the West Central Neighborhood Alliance. According to the release, the effort will utilize $99,000 in Environmental Protection Agency’s brownfields assessment grant funds to identify and address underutilized and potentially contaminated sites and align land use, infrastructure investments, transportation and housing with community priorities.
The corridor is surrounded by several brownfield sites, according to the release, including bulk oil stations, auto salvage and recycling yards, auto repair shops, a hazardous waste area and railways. Past assessments have identified heavy contamination of petroleum, heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, which are a group of more than 100 chemical compounds formed by the incomplete burning of organic materials like coal, gas and wood. PAHs are classified as potential human carcinogens. Results of past assessments are available on the city’s website…