The first bit of movement in almost 12 years to get the Jacksonville Developmental Center grounds abated is finally starting to see some movement by officials from the State of Illinois.
Jacksonville Community Development Director Brian Nyberg says that the City has applied for the Illinois and federal EPA to do an environmental study on the grounds: “I have been working with the U.S. EPA and the Illinois EPA as far as applying for a grant to do a Phase 1 study. I’ve been working with Kristin Jamison of the Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation and Lisa Musch at the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce. We have had meetings with representatives of Kansas State University, who is assisting municipalities with EPA grants and brownfield projects. The City of Jacksonville has been approved to submit an application to do Phase 1 testing on the JDC site, which is probably the best news that we’ve had in 12 years.”
Nyberg says the hope is that the EPA will do the Phase 1 testing on the grounds to get the ball started to possibly the declare the ground a brownfield. By EPA definition, brownfields are properties where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminants.
Nyberg says the declaration of a brownfield on the site is one step in what may be a lengthy process full of more bureaucracy, but he says there may be hope on the horizon: “The hope is that we’ll go in and the U.S. EPA will do the testing for the Phase 1, which is no drilling or boring. Basically, they are going through the history of the grounds and the buildings, looking at what could be in the buildings. My hope is that after the Phase 1, the U.S. EPA will realize that they really need to do a Phase 2. We will put in an application for that, as well. The hope is that they will also come and do a Phase 2 study. Then, at that point where we would be able or eligible to fill out applications for brownfield sites. There is money from the federal government to abate brownfields and clean these up. That’s our goal. The city is asking the state to clean them all up. We of course would like them to do that, but of course, they are not going to do that. So, basically, I am working on behalf of the State of Illinois to do whatever the city can do to make this property more appealing to developers.”
Nyberg says the city and the region wins no matter who does the redevelopment and cleans up the property.
Nyberg says that it’s not just the JDC property that the city is hoping to see plans for remediation: “We’ve also put in an application with the U.S. EPA for brownfield sites at the Norris Hospital and actually one of the last buildings on the former AC Humko site. Both have been listed in these grants with the EPA. Those are definitely on the radar. We’ve been working with the current owner of the Norris Hospital building. The owner tells me that he is 90% or above funded to rehabilitate that building. We hope that starts sooner rather than later. The city has proactively reached out by means of applications for U.S. EPA grants for clean up.”
The Norris Hospital property was formerly owned by MacMurray College and once house the school’s prestigious nursing program, despite only being able to use the top floor of the building due to lead paint, asbestos, and lead water pipes. The property was vacated in the early 2000s after it was no longer considered structurally sound and has remained vacant ever since. It has been a common flashpoint of vandalism and vagrancy.
Rumors of asbestos abatement and demolition of the former hospital and JDC properties has been in the millions of dollars. Legislation in the General Assembly over the last 12 years has seen little to no action by the state’s properties manager, Central Management Services. State officials really started to become immersed in the problem when a fire in mid-August