Four Area Projects Receive Brownfield Funds
Press Release
COLUMBUS — Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jim Tressel, and Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik last week announced $61 million in grants to help communities in 75 counties clean up contaminated properties and prepare them for new life.
The Department of Development is awarding this funding as part of the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program. The announcement includes $45.8 million for 84 cleanup and remediation projects and $15.3 million for 76 assessment projects.
“Sites like these do no good when they’re left alone to contaminate the soil and impact the health of our neighborhoods,” said Governor DeWine. “Throughout the past five years, we’ve changed the trajectory of hundreds of properties that once held our communities back, turning long-neglected eyesores into places of possibility.”
Since its launch in 2021, the Brownfield Remediation Program has provided nearly $780 million to support 841 projects in 87 counties.
“Any time we’re able to take a forgotten property and give it new life, it opens the door to new opportunities for the people who call that community home,” said Lt. Governor Tressel. “When we transform these sites, we’re investing in stronger local economies, stronger neighborhoods, and a stronger future for communities across Ohio.”
Funding awarded through the Brownfield Remediation Program is used to assess and clean up industrial, commercial, and institutional brownfield sites that are abandoned, idled, or underutilized due to a known or potential release of hazardous substances or petroleum. Following site remediation, properties can be redeveloped to revitalize neighborhoods and attract new economic development.
“The Brownfield Remediation Program continues to show what’s possible when state and local partners come together with a shared vision for a better future,” said Director Mihalik. “By working alongside local leaders to clean up and prepare these sites for redevelopment, we’re helping remove long-standing barriers to progress and unlock new opportunities for our communities and the great people who call them home.”
Three Belmont County Projects are:
Project Name: Revive and Thrive
Belmont County Land Reutilization Corporation (Belmont County)
$178,244 Cleanup/Remediation
This project will abate asbestos and demolish the vacant former Ohio University Eastern Campus Science and Engineering Building to make way for new ADA-compliant parking and accessibility improvements supporting the adjoining ECO Center. The ECO Center will expand healthcare access, workforce training, education programs, and community services for up to 100,000 residents annually. The cleanup is a critical step in a multi-million-dollar regional revitalization effort that addresses healthcare shortages and strengthens the workforce pipeline.
Project Name: Restoration Hall Veterans Resource Hub
Triad Property Inspections (Belmont County)
$300,000 Assessment
This project will support Phase I and II environmental assessment activities at the former Rose Hill Elementary School in Bellaire, a vacant building originally constructed in 1909. The site contains suspected asbestos-containing materials, lead-based paint, mold, and potential petroleum contamination associated with aging building systems. Once complete, the property will be transformed into the Restoration Hall Veterans Transition and Support Campus, providing transitional housing, workforce training, childcare, wellness services, and community support programs for veterans and their families. The redevelopment is expected to create 85 jobs and revitalize a long-vacant community landmark.
Project Name: Wheeling Brake Block
Belmont County Land Reutilization Corporation (Belmont County)
$294,986 Assessment
This project will support Phase II environmental assessment activities at the former Wheeling Brake industrial property in Belmont County. The 11.35-acre site has a history of industrial use and contains known and suspected environmental contamination, including buried asbestos containing materials and potential petroleum impacts associated with historic automotive storage and industrial operations. Assessment activities will include soil borings, groundwater monitoring wells, soil gas probes, and environmental sampling conducted under Ohioʼs Voluntary Action Program. The project will help determine the extent of contamination at the property and support future cleanup planning, positioning the site for redevelopment into a productive industrial or commercial asset.
Another area of interest is in nearby Guernsey County:
D.O. Hall Business Center (Part 2)
Guernsey County Port Authority
$1,000,000 Cleanup/Remediation
This project, which previously received Brownfield Remediation Program funding in December 2024 and All Ohio Future Fund funding in February 2025, will see the completion of mine stabilization activities at a nine-acre parcel underlain by extensive abandoned underground coal workings, including grout injection through more than 100 existing boreholes to eliminate subsidence risks and ready the site for industrial development. Stabilization will protect more than 500 existing jobs in the business park and convert the parcel into a shovel-ready industrial pad. Additionally, the project is expected to create 90 new jobs.
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Finally, another project of interest is one headed by Belmont County native Jeff Woda. Woda is responsible for the Russell’s Crossing development in Barnesville as well as a number of apartment rehabilitation and new construction projects in Wheeling.
Lofts at 40 Long
Woda Cooper Companies, Inc. (Franklin County)
$1,000,000 Cleanup/Remediation
This project will complete asbestos abatement, lead-based paint mitigation, and selective demolition inside the historic former downtown Columbus YMCA building. Woda Cooper Companies is leading the redevelopment of the building into 121 affordable apartments serving 268 residents. Cleanup will modernize the structure to current safety standards and preserve key architectural elements. The project is expected to create 604 new jobs.
DETAILS: Full List of New Brownfield Remediation Projects
(Ohio Department of Development Press Release)
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