Category: Brownfield Redevelopment
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Brownfields to Greenspace
When discussing redevelopment, we often think primarily about buildings or industrial sites being cleaned up and developed as another structure or business space. Redevelopment can also mean transforming a place back into a natural or semi-natural state. Let’s talk brownfields to greenspaces. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines a brownfield as “a property, the expansion,… Read more
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Pitfalls and Best Practices
Published first on the Progress News, September 12, 2022 One of the best things about visiting other areas undergoing redevelopment is the opportunity to learn from the successes and challenges of projects in those areas – being able to analyze our own community’s similarities and differences and figure out our most practical next steps. We never… Read more
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Notes from the National Brownfield Conference
Published first on the Progress News, September 5, 2022 A couple of weeks ago, from the 15th to the 19th of August, I was lucky enough to tour a number of former brownfield sites in Oklahoma City. It wasn’t just a random trip; it was the much-delayed, long-awaited National Brownfield Conference – the first in over… Read more
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When Partnerships Get Official
Published first on the Progress News, July 11, 2022 We’ve talked in the past about partnerships in a general sense – folks working together for the common good. Municipalities working with community groups working with agencies working with private individuals, all working toward some shared goal for the benefit of their community. The River Roots Community Farm… Read more
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Summer Project Updates
Published first on the Progress News, June 20, 2022 If someone could please let me know where the year has gone, I’d much appreciate it. But, here we are in the middle of June already, so it seems like a great time for a project update! Over at the River Roots Community Farm, a generous donation… Read more
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Look Ma, We Won!!
Published first on the Progress News, May 16, 2022 We are absolutely delighted to announce that the ORA’s Redevelopment program has been selected to receive another EPA Community-Wide Assessment (CWA) grant! We were one of only six applicants selected in Pennsylvania for this round, so we consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have made the cut. Our first… Read more
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Midspring Project Update
Published first on the Progress News, April 11, 2022 With daffodils beginning to bloom all around us, it’s official. Spring is really, truly here, regardless of how many snow flurries we might still get! And with spring comes the much-anticipated return of suitable weather conditions for our boots-on-the-ground projects. As always, in the brownfield redevelopment world, especially, physical… Read more
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Expanding Our Focus
Published first on the Progress News, March 14, 2022 As we have gotten our regional Redevelopment program off the ground, our first focus areas have been Emlenton and Oil City, where the ORA already had significant on-the-ground presence and property. Now, as our program has matured, our capacity has increased, and the first few priority sites… Read more
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Superfunds: Super Scary, but Super Rewarding!
Published first on the Progress News, February 28, 2022 With spring just around the corner, I’m starting to get excited about the upcoming season of on-the-ground works, with projects kicking off or starting back up in Oil City, Reno, Foxburg, Emlenton, Grove City, and probably more! It will be a busy year for Redevelopment, to… Read more
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An Engineering Perspective
Published first on the Progress News, February 14, 2022 When the ORA acquired the former Fuchs property in Emlenton, we were fortunate to partner with the skilled Environmental Engineering team at Moody & Associates. With their decades of experience in brownfield work, the Meadville-based firm has been helping us document and plan a remediation strategy to… Read more
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Redevelopment Planning
Published first on the Progress News, February 7, 2022 Ever wonder how Redevelopment projects are prioritized and planned? For those not involved in the behind-the-scenes strategy sessions involved in redevelopment work, it can sometimes seem like decisions are made somewhat arbitrarily, or opportunistically. Frankly, sometimes it seems like that to those of us in redevelopment, too! But there… Read more
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More Solar Opportunities
Published first on the Progress News, January 17, 2022 Continuing the conversation from last week, let’s look at a few more redevelopment opportunities in the field of solar energy. From conventional residential solar panels to research on new gizmos and gadgets, there is quite a bit coming up with which homeowners, landowners, business owners, organizations, and… Read more