The vacant Cumberland Equipment industrial site is a step closer to getting a new life.
The 17-acre industrial site, which produced materials-handling equipment and closed in 2012, is one of Chattanooga’s many brownfields, or sites for redevelopment complicated by potentially hazardous substance, a pollutant or contaminants.
An Environmental Protection Agency grant awarded to Chattanooga’s Enterprise Center for $200,000 will be used for planning the redevelopment of the site called the Third Street Corridor, bordered by the Tennessee River and including the Lincoln Park and Fort Wood neighborhoods.
“It’s an important piece of the puzzle,” said Enterprise Center President Wayne Cropp. “I don’t think anyone wants an industrial site sitting vacant by their homes and on the river.”
While this grant is one of many received in recent years by the Enterprise Center, which promotes high-tech economic development in the Chattanooga community to create jobs and build wealth, it’s the first for planning and development. The Enterprise Center will work with the city of Chattanooga and Hamilton County to develop a site plan and implementation system for the area.
“It’s an exciting opportunity. It allows us to approach this site and really plan and prioritize what to do,” said Cropp. “We’ll be able to look at the Third Street Corridor for economic development.”
Though only now at the beginning of the process, he said the future of the site could relate to two important institutions in the area.
“The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Erlanger Hospital both could see growth there,” Cropp said.
The future expansion of Central Avenue, which is currently in research stage but is expected to go through Lincoln Park and connect to Riverfront Parkway, will also help the redevelopment of the area, no matter what the future holds for the site.
Most importantly, the Enterprise Center will rely upon community input for its plans.
“Chattanooga is an eclectic community, and there are two very significant residential neighborhoods in this area,” Cropp said. “We have to find a way to stay true to the character of the community.”
Now that the Enterprise Center has received the grant, staff will present a site work plan to the EPA detailing the scope of work. The program hopes to have a kickoff for the study and plan development after Oct. 1.