Gov. Doyle’s Office: Governor Announces $325,000 in Grants to Help Clean Up Milwaukee Brownfields for Public Use

Contacts:
Darsi Foss, Department of Natural Resources, 608-267-6713

Jessica Erickson, Governor’s Office, 608-261-2156

Funding Will Help Improve Hank Aaron Trail, Provide Greater Access to the
Menomonee River, and Improve a Neighborhood Park and Farmers Market

MILWAKEE – Governor Jim Doyle today announced two Department
of Natural Resources (DNR) grants totaling $325,000 to the City of Milwaukee
to help clean up contaminated properties for public use. The funding will
help improve the Hank Aaron State Trail, provide greater public access to
the Menomonee River, and enhance a neighborhood park, playground, and
farmer’s market on East Locust Street in Milwaukee.

The grants – some of the first of their kind in the nation –
are part of DNR’s new Greenspace and Public Facilities Grants, aimed at
helping communities add public spaces and public buildings to urban areas
through brownfields cleanup and reuse. Brownfields are abandoned, idle, or
underused industrial or commercial properties where redevelopment is
hindered by real or perceived contamination.

“Re-using urban brownfields and turning them into parks,
public marketplaces, and recreational areas is critical to growing
Wisconsin’s economy,” Governor Doyle said. “This new program helps
communities rid themselves of environmental threats and blighted sites, and
replace them with new green spaces and public facilities, spurring
neighborhood improvements and attracting new homeowners and businesses.
National studies have shown that the closer residential housing is to open
spaces or parks, the higher the property value becomes.”

The two grants will help lead to the reuse of 140 acres of
property in Milwaukee. The city has already performed environmental
assessments for each project, and will now apply the grants toward
developing control and cleanup measures for soil and groundwater that
contain hazardous substances.

The Milwaukee projects receiving the grants are:

* Menomonee River Valley West End Redevelopment, $200,000 – The
Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee is developing a larger
parcel east of Miller Park that became contaminated through many decades of
use as a railroad maintenance yard. This blighted area will be transformed
into community ball fields, serve as part of the Hank Aaron State Trail,
provide greater public access to the Menomonee River, and help fund an
innovative storm-water treatment park.

* Garden Park, $125,000 – The Redevelopment Authority of the City of
Milwaukee is enhancing a neighborhood park, playground, and farmers market
at the former location of a blighted, tax delinquent building on East Locust
Street. This partnership project for the city, the neighborhood
association, and Milwaukee Urban Gardens will help create a more welcoming
gathering spot for the neighborhood. It will also result in an improved
marketplace for local crafts and produce.

Governor Doyle noted that the state received applications
for almost twice as much funding as was available under the new grant
program.

Grant recipients are required to match state funding with
20-50 percent of their own dollars. Private investment stimulated by these
redevelopment projects may lead to millions more in local improvements.

“Milwaukee and other Wisconsin communities went above and
beyond the required local contribution and, combined with other potential
state and federal grants, these projects will be great catalysts for future
growth,” the Governor said.

A total of 11 applicants are receiving Wisconsin’s new
Greenspace and Public Facilities grants in 2004.

More information about Greenspace and Public Facilities
grants and other brownfield funding is available on DNR’s Remediation and
Redevelopment Program web site at
www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/aw/rr/financial/index.htm.