Brownfields Redevelopment
In collaboration with the Technical Assistance to Brownfields program (TAB) at Kansas State University’s Center for Hazardous Substance Research, Stevenson Center faculty and students help businesses and communities across the Midwest US with redevelopment of brownfield sites.
A brownfield is a parcel of real property, or a portion of a parcel, that has actual or perceived contamination and a potential for redevelopment. Brownfields are often abandoned, unused, or underused industrial and commercial properties that vary in size, location, age, and past use. Brownfields can be anything from a five hundred acre closed steel mill to a small abandoned corner gas station. For redevelopment purposes the property may or may not require remediation (i.e., clean-up) to mitigate liability for future economic activity.
Stevenson Center Brownfields Redevelopment program and TAB staff at KSU meet with community leaders to identify needs and interests for redevelopment. We assist with:
- strategic planning and community-wide discussions of approaches to redevelopment of a site;
- identification of funding sources;
- reviewing grant proposals for financial assistance from the state government, federal government, or private foundations;
- TAB EZ, a free on-line tool to facilitate writing EPA brownfields assessment and cleanup grant proposals;
- economic impact analyses and forecasting;
- review of technical reports, project work plans, etc.;
- help finding and contracting with a consulting firm; and
- technical presentations (e.g., workshops, seminars, etc).
Staff serve as liaisons to the services of the U.S. EPA, relevant state offices, USDA, and private organizations interested in the clean-up and redevelopment of such sites.
Across the country these properties are being transformed into resources that contribute substantial benefits to the surrounding community: a cleaner and safer environment, new housing, new jobs, new commercial or retail space, or other public amenities such as open space or public parks. Brownfields redevelopment can even be a means for engaging in holistic community development projects.
Brownfield redevelopment, when approached as a collaborative community-based project, has the added benefits of restoring both the physical and social fabric of neighborhoods and creating vibrant, livable communities.
For more information, or just to discuss your brownfields redevelopment project, contact the Director of the Stevenson Center, Dr. Frank Beck (
or 309-438-7090).
