Ryan Announces Brownfields Redevelopment Grant for City of East Peoria

SPRINGFIELD -- Governor George H. Ryan today announced the City of East Peoria has been awarded a Brownfields Redevelopment Grant by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency in the amount of $120,000.

The City plans to use the grant for environmental oversight and investigation activities on a 65-acre site adjacent to I-74, near the Illinois River. East Peoria intends to eventually develop a City Center and a mixed-use business district on the site. The site is a former industrial area and is known to contain contamination from a variety of manufacturing and industrial activities. The Brownfields grant will allow the City to begin the process of developing the site into a vital element of the growth of its downtown area.

Governor Ryan noted that 32 communities have now been awarded grants under the program, which began July 1, 1998. Illinois communities have received over $2.65 million to date for environmental assessments of brownfields sites.

"Communities are eligible for grants up to $120,000; however, the average grant is just around $90,000. This assistance can be the catalyst to bring back to productive use sites that have been community eyesores and potential hazards to citizens and the environment," Ryan commented. "The grant recipients have been Illinois municipalities ranging from under 2000 to nearly 3 million in population." In addition, communities such as East Peoria can apply to the Illinois Brownfield

Redevelopment Loan Program, which is funded by Illinois FIRST. Loans can be used for both site assessment and remedial activities. The brownfields grant and loan programs are designed to work together to help communities complete a redevelopment project.