PROJECT BACKGROUND:

During the Civil War, the property served as the grounds for the Confederate States Army and later became part of a system

of wharves, docks and warehouses during the height of the steamboat era. Subsequently, the property became an integral

part of the region’s railroad system and a portion was utilized by Shreveport Gas and Electric Company for nearly 60 years.

For the last 25 years, the property has been virtually abandoned. To spur economic redevelopment and community

revitalization, the City of Shreveport identified the property in 1999 as a potential location for the proposed Shreveport

Convention Center. In 2001, the City of Shreveport completed environmental investigations of the property under an EPA

Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot. These investigations identified arsenic, benzo(a)pyrene, and other

contaminants at concentrations that exceeded both federal and LDEQ standards.

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

• Leveraged $102 million in public and private funding for assessment,

cleanup, and redevelopment activities.

• Removed 38,005 cubic yards of soil contaminated with petroleum

products and arsenic, 45,260 gallons of fuel oil and water, and two

underground storage tanks (USTs); sealed two USTs; disposed of three

oil/gas wells; and excavated two 100,000-cubic-foot natural gas

storage basins.

• Leveraged an estimated 1,100 in cleanup, construction, and

redevelopment jobs.

• One of the first projects to enter the LDEQ Voluntary Remediation Program.

OUTCOME:

The City of Shreveport used $400,000 from an EPA Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund to clean up a portion of the

15-acre property, and then leveraged an additional $102 million from public- and private-sector sources for cleanup and

redevelopment, transforming the former brownfield into a state-of-the-art convention center. The 350,000 square-foot

facility—the second largest convention center in Louisiana and the largest in the tri-state area—features modern, high-tech

meeting and exhibit space. The Shreveport Convention Center opened its doors in January 2006, serving as an anchor and

catalyst for area redevelopment; a 317-room Hilton Hotel will open in the near future and connect directly to the facility.

ConventionSouth, the South’s leading meetings industry magazine, presented the Shreveport Convention Center with its

annual Readers’ Choice Award in December 2006.

A Brownfields Intervention Results in the New Shreveport Convention Center

brownfields at-a-glance

CONVENTION CENTER

Shreveport, LA

Revolving Loan Fund Grant

EPA-560-F-07-213

June 2007

For additional data and

geographic information for

this and other

Brownfields Grants, please

visit EPA’s:

Envirofacts -

www.epa.gov/enviro/html/

bms/bms_query.html

Enviromapper -

www.epa.gov/enviro/bf

The completed Shreveport Convention Center.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ or call EPA Region 6 at (214) 665-6780

EPA GRANT RECIPIENT: PROJECT PARTNERS:

The City of Shreveport

utilized $400,000 in EPA

Brownfields Revolving

Loan Fund funding.

Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ),

Shreveport Department of Community Development,

Downtown Development Authority, U.S. Department of

Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Shreveport

Public Assembly and Recreation (SPAR), Red River

Waterway Commission

ADDRESS: 400 Caddo Street, Shreveport, LA 71101

PROPERTY SIZE: 15 acres

FORMER USES: Confederate arsenal and military complex; system of wharves,

docks and warehouses; sawmill; foundries; warehouses;

railroad; former power plant

CURRENT USE: Shreveport Convention Center