Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund renews the Bell Building
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) - The Bell Building has received much-needed attention and environmental renovation thanks to the Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund.
Built in the early 1900s, the historic building initially housed a car dealership with an elevator that moved display automobiles from floor to floor. Throughout the years, the building has fallen to vacancy and disrepair.
The Brownfield Revolving Loan fund worth one million dollars is working with the Environmental Protection Agency, the City of Cheyenne, Preserve Historic Wyoming, and the Downtown Development Authority, with the purpose to help bridge the development and environmental clean-up gap.
“A lot of development projects, if they have to do environmental remediation kind of pump the brakes...so what we’re trying to do is fund that gap for the developmental community.”
The Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund was used in the Bell Building to remove asbestos and lead paint.
This fund can be used as a loan or grant by non-profit organizations to clear environmental contaminants in older buildings. In this case, the fund helped restore this historic building.
The Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund is looking for future projects to continue this renewable resource for developing the business and residential sector.
“Today it does have boards on the windows still, however, behind those boards there is a clean, environmentally clean space, that is ready for re-development.”
The Bell Building environmental remediation process finished in December of 2020, and the residential building is projected to finish in the early Summer of 2021.
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