EPA-560-F-08-248 brownfields May 2008

at-a-glance

Rosebud, TX 

OLD HALBERT HOSPITAL Cleanup Grant 

Residential Reuse Plans Address a Community-Identified Need

ADDRESS: 311 N. Military Rd., Rosebud, TX 76570 

PROPERTY SIZE: 1.8 acres 

FORMER USE: Hospital 

CURRENT USE: With cleanup complete, the site’s master plan calls for seven 

single-family homes to be built on seven individual parcels. 

EPA GRANT RECIPIENT: PROJECT PARTNERS: 

The City of Rosebud received a $200,000 

Brownfields Hazardous Substances Cleanup 

grant in September 2006. 

NeighborWorks America 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

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 

This former hospital site, located within a primarily residential area, included three buildings constructed in the 1950s. 

The hospital closed in the 1980s, and the owners declared bankruptcy. Through tax foreclosure, the property was 

eventually transferred to three-way ownership among the City of Rosebud, Falls County and the local school district. The 

city’s original plan was to renovate existing structures; the site was entered into the state’s Voluntary Cleanup Program 

and environmental assessments were performed. However, at an estimated $2 million to clean up lead and asbestos 

contamination and rehabilitate onsite buildings, costs were prohibitively high for a city of approximately 1,500 residents. 

The city resigned itself to leaving the property dormant and restricting site access. Community meetings identified the 

need for new housing as a top priority, as homes had not been built in Rosebud in the last 20 years. The city council made 

residential reuse a priority for the site, and applied for an EPA Brownfields Cleanup grant. Rosebud received a $200,000 

EPA grant in 2006 and took sole ownership of the property that year. 

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS: 

• Worked closely with the community to determine the site’s most beneficial reuse. 

• Used the $200,000 EPA Cleanup grant, along with $40,000 in city funds, to demolish structures and clear the 

property of both lead and asbestos contamination. 

• Completed cleanup in July 2007. 

• Collaborated with a nonprofit developer to produce a residential reuse plan that includes seven new homes. 

OUTCOME: 

While cleanup was underway, the city began collaborating with NeighborWorks America—a national nonprofit 

organization created by Congress to provide financial support, technical assistance and training for community-based 

revitalization efforts—on residential reuse plans for the former hospital site. Though a contract has not been finalized, the 

organization’s plans for the site feature seven single-family homes to be constructed on the property, with an estimated 

completion in early 2009. All of the homes will take advantage of existing utility infrastructure, and be built to ENERGY 

STAR®-equivalent standards. In addition to the productive reuse of a long-dormant, contaminated property, this project 

meets a need for additional housing specifically identified as a community priority. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ or call EPA Region 6 at (214) 665-2241