$350,000 from EPA to assist in cleanups

Tainted lot, Sterling building to benefit

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Pulaski County $350,000 for cleaning up two contaminated sites: an empty lot near Full Counsel Ministries church in North Little Rock, and the second and third floors of the old Sterling Department Store on Capitol Avenue and Louisiana Street in downtown Little Rock.

The money comes from the federal Brownfields Program, which provides funds to clean up sites that are difficult to develop because of contamination or the possibility of contamination.

Brownfields grants have been used in Little Rock to redevelop old properties on Main Street downtown and to build a children's center at Our House shelter for homeless people.

The $350,000 announced Wednesday will be split up for two projects and potentially for other ongoing cleanup projects.

After Sterling Development Group LLC purchased the site of the old Sterling Department Store early last year, the group applied to use just more than $100,000 in Brownfields funds to rid the three-story site of asbestos, lead paint and other old machinery and equipment.

Group managing partner Jordan Haas said they couldn't wait on the Brownfields grant for the first floor, which has already been cleaned up.

Haas has expressed interest in retail sites on the first floor of the building and said Wednesday that he'll wait to determine what the second and third floors might be used for.

"The sexy thing to do would be to let the third floor be residential," he said. "It would be a great space for lofts. It would be economical to do office space."

But he said Sterling Development Group won't lease the space until there's a timeline on the cleanup.

"We're trying to remain flexible with what we're doing on the second and third floors," he said. "We're trying to make sure we don't get the cart before the horse."

The other property set to be cleaned up is a lot owned by Full Counsel Ministries that is near the church's 1700 Maple St. location in North Little Rock.

Officials with the church were not available for comment late Wednesday.

The property is an empty lot, Pulaski County Brownfields Administrator Josh Fout said, but it is contaminated. Fout said he wasn't sure what it was contaminated with, however.

He also said plans were not set in stone yet for how the land would eventually be used once it's cleaned up.

Metro on 09/24/2015

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