Dallas brownfields program spurs city
redevelopment
The City of Dallas is being revitalized, thanks
in part to the efforts of the Dallas Brownfields Program and grants
from EPA’s Office of Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment.
The redevelopment effort is encouraging businesses and residents
to consider downtown rather than moving out to the suburbs.
The American Airlines (AA) Center is located on
the site of a former Dallas Electric Company generating plant, built
in 1890.The Dallas Brownfields Program (DBP) was started through
a $200,000 brownfields assessment pilot grant from EPA in October
1995. Since then, the program has helped revitalize downtown Dallas
by turning abandoned and underused properties into usable spaces.
Victory Park, a mixed-use retail, office, and
residential park that includes the American Airlines Center and
new W Hotel, opened in 2001. The park received a Phoenix Award,
a national award for outstanding brownfields achievement. In south
Dallas DBP used funds to conduct site assessments of a former Sears
Automotive Store. Through a bond initiative, voters agreed to fund
the redevelopment of the store as a new police headquarters. The
City of Dallas used sustainable development practices to build the
Jack Evans Police Headquarters, which was the first “green
building” constructed in Dallas.
On May 12, 2006, EPA announced the program would
receive another $200,000 to conduct environmental site assessments
and perform community outreach. The monies will be used primarily
to study sites in the southern sector of Dallas, including South
Dallas/Fair Park, West Dallas, the Cedars and the South Side Public
Improvement District.
To date, DBP has leveraged more than $922 million
for Brownfields cleanup and redevelopment and added more than 6,000
jobs. EPA has designated Dallas a brownfields showcase city.
More information about the Dallas Brownfields
Program is available on the EPA Region 6 website at www.epa.gov/region6/brownfields. |
