City News
Fort Worth awarded EPA grant for silos in Southside neighborhood
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded the city of Fort Worth a $300,000 grant designated to help clean up areas in the Southside neighborhood.
The grant is called a Brownfields Assessment Coalition Grant. A "brownfield" is a property whose expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. According to the EPA website, there are more than 450,000 brownfields in the U.S.
The grant's goals include increase property values and increasing local tax revenue. Fort Worth is one of three cities in Texas to receive a 2020 grant.
According to a release, it'll focus on the Southside neighborhood, with a priority on the 2.9-acre Alice Street Silos site, which contains approximately 90 grain silos that operated from 1925 until 2000; and a dilapidated and vacant former recreation facility.
The grant will go towards "assessment," one of the first steps in the process to revitalize an area. Assessment involves tasks such as taking inventory, planning, environmental assessments, and community outreach.
It is anticipated the grant will be available for use by October 2020.
This is not Fort Worth's first neighborhood to earn such a grant. In prior years, the EPA has awarded grants to Montgomery Plaza, the Evans and Rosedale area, Lucky Lady Oil Corporation, and Crossroads Art Gallery in the Lake Como neighborhood, which is currently in progress.
In a statement, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson calls it a wise investment.
"I look forward to the positive impact these new federal dollars will have on communities with brownfield sites ready for cleanup and redevelopment," she says. "I also congratulate the Brownfields Assessment Coalition for working together on this effort and securing this EPA grant that is critical to cleaning up our environment and creating the necessary conditions to further draw new businesses and people to our community."
The other two cities to receive grants were Dallas, which received $600,000 for the revitalization of the South Dallas/Fair Park area; and El Paso, which was awarded $600,000 for the El Paso Downtown Management District.
