Additional projects proposed for the area 

include a $5 million, 40,000-square-foot 

neighborhood commercial retail center; a 

neighborhood learning center; and a "Head 

Start" school—all serviced by a new public 

transportation hub. otal investment is 

estimated at more than $10 million. 

JUST THE FACTS: 

• The Brownfields Pilot funded $27,500 worth 

of environmental assessments of the Bowser 

Pump site–a 12.5-acre property within one 

of the most economically distressed areas in 

the state. 

• The city spent nearly $350,000 to demolish 

the site's charred and unsafe buildings, and 

the Indiana Department of Environmental 

Management removed tires from a tire storage site. 

• A $300,000 grant from HUD's Economic Development Initiative (EDI) will finance installation of a new public infrastructure that will 

support construction of 20 new homes on the 

site. 

From the Ashes, New Homes 

Rise in Fort Wayne 

Neighborhood 

continued 8

with the help of a $200,000 EPA Brownfields Assessment Pilot grant, a former oil pump manufacturing and 

warehouse site in Fort Wayne, Indiana, has been assessed, 

more than $1.5 million in funding has been leveraged from 

the city and state for cleanup and restoration of the site, 

and plans are moving forward for a 10-home residential 

development called Phoenix Place and a 20-home development on an adjacent parcel. 

The City of Fort Wayne was awarded EPA's Brownfields 

Assessment Pilot grant in August 1998, which provided 

funding for the hiring of the the city's Brownfields 

Redevelpment Manager. 

worth of environmental assessments of the Bowser Pump 

site–a 12.5-acre property divided into three parcels within 

one of the most economically distressed areas in the state. 

As a result of the Pilot's assessments, approximately 3,200 

cubic yards of contaminated soil were excavated, removed 

from one of the parcels, and disposed of. 

Parcel B, was a storage site for 600,000 tires that had 

caught fire and burned for three days in 1997, forcing the 

evacuation of more than 1,000 neighborhood residents and 

the adjacent Fort Wayne Police Department. 

spent nearly $350,000 to demolish the remaining charred 

and unsafe buildings, and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) removed the remaining 

tires from the site. 

ronmental assessments with the assistance of the EPA 

Brownfields Pilot, and has since been cleared for residential use by IDEM's Brownfields Program. 

grant from the Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) 

Economic Development Initiative (EDI) will finance installation of a new public infrastructure that will support 

construction of 20 new homes on the site. 

FORT WAYNE, IN 

T

The Pilot also funded $27,500 

This parcel, 

The city 

Parcel B has undergone multiple enviA $300,000 
FORT WAYNE 

CONTACTS:

Ft. Wayne Redevelopment Commission 

(219) 427-1127 

U.S. EPA-Region 5 

(312) 353-2513 

Visit the EPA Brownfields web site at: 

http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/

In addition to EPA Brownfields Pilot and EDI funding, the city received a 

State of Indiana $500,000 low-interest loan to be used toward brownfields 

cleanup and redevelopment. 

proximately $300,000 of that loan was used to complete the demolition 

of Bowser Pump site subsurface structures as well as the removal 

and disposal of 16 underground storage tanks (USTs) containing nonhazardous solvents, fuel oil, and diesel fuel. 

funding was spent on site preparation, including installation of utilities, 

drainage, sewers, roads, curbs, sidewalks, lights, and trees for the 

expansion of Fisher Street, which runs in front of the site. 

structure project, completed in December 1999, is enabling development of a 2.25-acre portion of the Bowser Pump property (Parcel C) into 

Phoenix Place, a new 10-unit residential development. 

back the $500,000 loan using a county economic development income tax that 

captures six-tenths of one percent on income from people who live or work in the 

county. 

The development contract for Phoenix Place has been awarded to the Greater Progressive 

Housing Community Development Corporation (CDC), which represents 7,500 residents in 

the area. 

houses at a cost of $90,000 to $125,000. 

also receive a five-year residential property tax 

abatement on their new homes. 

home was completed in early 2000, and three 

additional homes are nearly complete. 

Redevelopment progress on the Bowser 

site has spurred other neighborhood improvement projects. 

2000, a nearby city park received $50,000 

from the state for improvements to its basketball courts, playground equipment, landscaping, and handicap accessibility. 

Additional projects proposed within the nearby 

Hanna Creighton neighborhood include a $5 million, 40,000-square-foot neighborhood commercial retail center located three blocks from the Bowser site and a neighborhood learning center that includes a new branch library, Urban League office and community center, and a "Head Start" school–all serviced by a new public transportation hub. otal 

investment in this project is estimated at more than $10 million. 

In the spring and summer of 1999, apAnother $200,000 in city 

This infraThe city will pay 

The city gave the land to the CDC, which will sell the 1,700- to 2,300-square-foot 

Owners will 

The first model 

In the summer of 

T

Brownfields Success Story Solid Waste EPA-500-F-02-032 

Fort Wayne, Indiana and Emergency April 2002 

Response (5105) www.epa.gov/brownfields/