Brownfields Update for the Pacific Northwest

[The Idaho story this month expands the discussion of a Brownfield project in Boise mentioned in a previous newsletter article.]

Successful Brownfield redevelopment projects often start with a vision. That’s certainly true of a project in Boise where one man’s vision and persistence is helping turn an unused, dilapidated building into a much needed space for children’s performing and visual arts. The project illustrates how fulfilling that vision often requires overcoming complex and costly obstacles.

Jon Swarthout had driven by the old stone building in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boise for years. A native of the city, his memories of this “place of mystery” went back to his childhood. Now, as Founder and Artistic Director of the Treasure Valley Institute for the Arts (TrICA), Jon wondered from time to time if the building would be the perfect place for his arts education center as well as a performance space. Built as a Methodist church in 1907, the building had been converted into an apartment building. More recently, it was unoccupied, boarded up and fenced off.

Driving past a few years ago, Jon stopped to talk with someone he soon found to be the owner of the building. This began a two year friendship between the two men, ultimately leading to the property owner’s agreement to sell the building for renovation to the children’s art center.

As TrICA was being formed, Jon purchased the property with a private loan.  However the transaction did not undergo the level of due diligence normally required from professional lenders. He was aware the property had structural challenges but did not know of all the contamination subsequently found to be present. In addition to lead-based paint, the building contained the remnants of contamination from a former drug lab.  According to Jon, the cost of assessment, remediation and renovation was quite a shock. At the time, he was not aware of Brownfields or the programs possibly available to help.

Coincidentally, Keith Donohue, former Brownfields Coordinator for the Idaho DEQ, introduced Jon to the world of Brownfield tools. Keith serves on TrICA’s Board of Directors where his children are students.  Keith advised Jon where he might find assistance to fund the Brownfield-related work the building needed as he prepared to formally transfer the property to TrICA.

Taking Keith’s advice, Jon began working with various entities to help with the building’s restoration. The Idaho DEQ provided $36,000 in funding from its Site Specific Assessment program to pay for an assessment and cleanup plans and related activities, such as structural improvements to the building’s interior.  The ASTM Phase I assessment that was completed as part of this work provided much needed information about the property but also helped TrICA qualify as a Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser, thus protecting them from future liability and making them eligible for Brownfields cleanup funding.

The structural work is being paid for as a part of the remediation whose funding is from an EPA-funded Revolving Loan Fund managed by Sage Community Resources one of Idaho’s economic development agencies. The building’s designation as an endangered historic place helped attract funds for roof repairs from the Trust for Historic Preservation.

The project is closing in on completion of phase one, resulting in a stabilized and remediated shell. TrICA will then embark on completing phase two, an extensive design and renovation of the building’s interior. Efforts have already begun to raise the $4 million needed to fund this work, allowing for the building’s reopening in the summer of 2010.

As an added bonus, the project will be eligible for Idaho’s Community Reinvestment Pilot Initiative created to entice property owners to participate in the Voluntary Cleanup Program. The Initiative offers rebates of up to $150,000 in cleanup costs to qualifying projects.

A related story about Jon and his dream may be found here.

For more information about this project, contact:

Aaron Scheff, Brownfields Program Manager
Idaho Department of Environmental Quality
208-373-0420
aaron.scheff@deq.idaho.gov