MANSFIELD — A several-block area around the former Westinghouse properties in Mansfield may be in line for environmental brownfield assessments through the Ohio EPA.
Dan Tjoekler, lead brownfield coordinator for the state, asked the Richland County Land Bank if it would like to include such a “Westinghouse Target Area” in the Ohio EPA’s $2 million federal grant application.
The Land Bank board voted Friday to approve the inclusion.
“I don’t know why we wouldn’t want to be involved in it,” said board Chair Bart Hamilton, the Richland County treasurer.
In his letter, Tjoelker said the Ohio EPA would select three target areas with one or two sites in each area.
“We can also use the grant to fund assessments across the state,” he said.
“With the ongoing planning activities and the compelling story of the Westinghouse cleanup and potential redevelopment, it may be a good area to include into our grant application,” Tjoelker said.
The area would include sites formerly owned by appliance manufacturer Tappan, which closed its local operations in 1992. It also includes the massive former Mansfield Commerce Center on East Fourth Street, as well as land owned by the City of Mansfield.
According to a map created by the Land Bank, the area would encompass North Adams Street to Central Avenue; Orange to Street to Ashland Road and to East Third Street.
If the area is included in the grant, and property owners agree, Phase 1 and Phase 2 testing will be done through the EPA. Those two studies are part of an environmental site assessment used to determine if a property is contaminated and can be used for brownfield redevelopment.
Property owners have not been contacted about the plan yet, Land Bank officials said.
“I don’t have to list specific sites. But this would help us focus on the area around the Westinghouse site as we’re looking for developers,” Land Bank Executive Director Amy Hamrick said.
The grant funds could also be used for asbestos analysis, she said.
Also on Tuesday, the Land Bank board approved spending $101,175 with Advanced Demolition Services from McComb, Ohio, to complete the work at the site of the former YMCA site along Park Avenue West.
The cost includes bringing in enough dirt to make a gradual slope from the west sidewalk and put down grass seed and straw.
The Land Bank has been working with a Columbus architecture firm to develop 3-D designs showing potential future development at the former site.
The “white box massing” work by archall architects will help show what sorts of buildings could best occupy the space at 455 Park Ave. West, according to the board.
“We met with the design team at the site,” Hamrick said. “One of the things they recommended is to go ahead and leave the bowl and just smooth out the side instead of filling it all in,” Hamrick said.
She said completely filling it in with dirt could cost another $100,000 and the design team thinks potential developers “would be fine” with the bowl.
Hamrick said the City of Mansfield has $122,911 remaining in its PRIDE funds to help pay for the work.
Hamrick also announced the Land Bank received $519,198 this year through its delinquent tax and assessment collection (DTAC) fund, well above the $342,306 it received through the find in 2023.
In explaining the increase, Hamilton said the Community Action Commission of Erie, Huron and Richland Counties had funds available for residents this year to assist those behind on their property taxes.
