TBRA grants spur cultural and commercial revival
A $325,000 TBRA grant in 2003, used for asbestos removal, was critical to establishing Plaza Verde in Minneapolis. “Without cleanup money, the project would not have found financing for the almost $4 million needed for restoration and construction,” said John Harrington, a senior project coordinator at the City of Minneapolis.
After renovation Plaza Verde, on East Lake Street in Minneapolis, is a thriving community center with retail space, offices for Latino newspapers, and a performance hall and costume shops for Heart of the Beast Puppet Theatre.
Where a former antiques building stood empty for several years, Plaza Verde today is a “thriving enterprise zone,” said Harrington. Located at 1508 E. Lake Street, the building provides:
- Commercial space for entrepreneurs who outgrew their spaces at nearby Mercado Central.
- Costume construction rooms and an open hall for performances by neighboring Heart of the Beast Puppet Theatre.
- Offices for neighborhood business incubation organizations.
- A business home for several Latino newspapers.
Like the grant that made the Plaza Verde project possible, many brownfield cleanup grants prepare contaminated sites for new industrial or commercial uses. Cities can use the money to help property owners remove contaminated soils, clean up groundwater, strip asbestos from buildings, and properly dispose of wastes left at the sites. When the properties are made safe for people to live and work there, new businesses move in, bringing jobs and tax revenues to the community.
Today, the Hopkins Business Center operates at a former landfill. Bolger Publishing runs printing presses where a tool-and-die maker once pressed metal parts. Folks shape up at a fitness facility sited at the former Village North Mall. Physicians practice at the historic Terrace Theater. Numerous small businesses operate at Apache Plaza’s old address, employing local residents.
The former Guardian Angels School in Hastings was renovated into affordable apartments and a daycare center. TBRA funds helped with asbestos removal. The building is more than a century old.
Many buildings transformed into housing
Several brownfield grants rescued historic buildings; many emerged to include affordable housing. Twenty-eight lofts fill the Creamettes Building. Guardian Angels School provides 20 apartments in Hastings. Warehouses at the Milwaukee Depot hold 97 condos, the Great Northern Railway building includes 50 – and there are more.
TBRA grants also seed valuable opportunities for social services, community identity and artistic expression. The grants have made possible a wide range of such projects. Examples include:
- Culturally important sites: Mai Village, Plaza Verde
- Specialized housing: National Handicapped Housing Institute, Hastings domestic abuse shelter, Salvation Army youth shelter
- Arts and education: Heart of the Beast Theatre, Hollywood Theater
- Parks/sports: Village Creek, Xcel Energy Center, Breck School Ice Arena
“Measured dollar for dollar, the program is tough to criticize,” said Bell. “The grants are popular with communities, and they are especially important in cities where older buildings and industries left hazards and pollutants behind before environmental safeguards were established.”
How popular? The Council had funds for only 48 percent of its January 2006 requests. Grants are awarded twice each year.