[CPEO-BIF] Erie Complex wins Phoenix Grand Prize

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

NEWS RELEASE
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

Dept. of Environmental Protection
Commonwealth News Bureau
Room 308, Main Capitol
Harrisburg, PA  17105

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Ted Kopas tkopas@state.pa.us

ERIE FRONT STREET COMPLEX EARNS TOP NATIONAL AWARD FOR REVITALIZING OLD
INDUSTRIAL SITE

HARRISBURG (Sept. 28) -- Gov. Tom Ridge today congratulated developers
of the Erie Front Street Complex for this week winning the Grand Prize
Phoenix Award -- the highest national honor in brownfield development --
at the 2001 Brownfields Conference in Chicago. "Many states look to
Pennsylvania's Land Recycling Program as a model for how government and
business can work together to improve the environment, and Erie's
success is a testament that it can be done effectively," Gov. Ridge
said. "Working with the Port Authority, GPU Energy and North America
Realty took a property that had reached the end of its economic life,
cleaned it up and redeveloped it into a first-class tourist and
community cultural-center complex. Congratulations to them for a job
well done. 

"With nearly 920 sites completed in six years of the Land Recycling
Program and 25,000 jobs created or retained, we have a strong foundation
to continue to work together to create jobs, improve the environment and
make our state an even better place to live," Gov. Ridge said. 

For more than 80 years, GPU Energy's Front Street Station, a
118-megawatt coal-fired power plant, was located along Lake Erie on
Presque Isle Bay. In 1989, GPU began planning the facility's closure.
The property contained an electric substation, a 120-foot smokestack,
fuel tanks, ash dewatering ponds and various other facilities.
Environmental contamination at the site was addressed under
Pennsylvania's Land Recycling Program. 

Today, the former Front Street Station is being transformed into
Bayfront Centre, a $117 million mixed-use development featuring the Erie
Maritime Museum, the Erie County Library and Civic Auditorium, a hotel,
commercial space, a marina and a residential area. It is homeport to the
U.S. Brig Niagara, an authentic replica of the U.S. warship aboard which
Commodore Perry won the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812. "Erie's
success demonstrates to the nation that Pennsylvania continues to be a
leader in land recycling," Gov. Ridge said. "Erie's scenic waterfront
truly is a crown jewel in the community and in the Commonwealth. 

Ray Schreckengost, executive director of the Erie Western Port
Authority, said, "This site was a typical, old Great Lakes port
situation. Without Pennsylvania's Land Recycling Program we wouldn't be
anywhere with this project." 

Charles Mowbray, director of GPU's Environmental Affairs, said, "It is a
tremendous honor to be the recipient of such a prestigious award. When
we started this project, our main intentions were to revitalize our
community and create jobs for our citizens. This 2001 Grand Prize
Phoenix Award shows us that our hard work did not go unnoticed. We are
happy that we can do our part to contribute to the economic growth of
the Commonwealth." 

The Phoenix Awards were created in 1997 by the Engineers' Society of
Western Pennsylvania to honor groups that develop significant
brownfields sites across the country. The Phoenix Awards seek to
recognize innovative yet practical remediation projects, which bring
blighted, old commercial and industrial sites back to productive use.
Entries have grown significantly and were received from all over the
country for 2001. A panel of judges representing private industry and
government chooses the award winners. To promote Pennsylvania's Land
Recycling Program, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
chartered a bus colorfully wrapped with signage featuring Pennsylvania's
land recycling message to go to the conference. At the conference,
Pennsylvania showcased PA SiteFinder. PA SiteFinder is an online
real-estate directory of brownfields for sale or lease in the state of
Pennsylvania. 

In the past years several Pennsylvania sites have been award winners,
including: The Pittsburgh Technology Center, Pittsburgh; Sovereign Oil
Redevelopment, Philadelphia; Ingersoll-Rand Redevelopment Project,
Washington County; and the Industrial Plaza of York, York County. In
1997, the Ford Foundation and the John F. Kennedy School of Government
at Harvard University selected Pennsylvania's Land Recycling Program --
among 1,540 competitors -- for a "Top 10 Innovations in Government"
award. The Council of State Governments selected the program as its 1997
Innovation Award winner; and the American Legislative Exchange Council
adopted the program as the national model for industrial site recycling.
For more information about PA SiteFinder or land recycling, visit DEP
through the PA PowerPort at http://www.state.pa.us or directly at
http://www.dep.state.pa.us (directLINK "land recycling"). 

# # #






-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 222B View St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
lsiegel@cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org

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