The City of Kent will receive a $331,000 state grant to clean up the site of the former Triangle Cleaners to make way for eventual new development.
The city had applied for the grant in February, hoping to prepare the abandoned, toxic lot for future use. The property is located near the Sheetz by the corner of Rockwell Street and North Mantua Street.
Originally a residential lot, the property has hosted a gas station, oil service station, battery station and, from 1984 until 2005, a dry cleaner. Dry cleaners produce harmful chemicals, including chloroform, perchloroethylene and formaldehyde, which can be released accidentally or intentionally into the soil.
Read our previous story about the Triangle Cleaners site.
The grant is the only portion of a $60 million “brownfield remediation” fund heading to Portage County and one of 78 cleanup projects statewide. More grants are on the way in the coming months, Governor Mike DeWine’s office said in a statement.
“More businesses are looking to expand in Ohio, but they need sites that are ready to go immediately,” Lt. Governor Jon Husted said in announcing the grants. “By cleaning up brownfield sites, we are creating locations that are ready to accommodate a business expansion. We are also transforming communities by removing blighted buildings and turning those sites into new opportunities for economic development.”
Ben Wolford is the editor and publisher of The Portager.
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