Brownfields Redevelopment

Brownfield : a parcel of real property, or a portion of the 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.

With funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Stevenson Center Faculty and the Director of the Applied Social Research Unit (link to ASRU) help smaller towns and rural counties across the state with redevelopment of such abandoned and environmentally damaged sites.

We have expertise and can assist officials, agencies, and business owners in:
•  grant-writing for financial assistance from the state, federal government, or private foundations;
•  strategic planning and community-wide discussions of approaches to redevelopment of a site;
•  economic impact analyses and forecasting (link); and
•  accessing the services of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (link to IEPA), U.S. EPA, USDA, and private organizations interested in the clean-up and redevelopment of such sites.

Stevenson Center Faculty and Staff see brownfields redevelopment within communities as a means for engaging in holistic community development projects. 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.

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.

The external funding we have for this work allows us to offer these services at below market rates. For more information, or just to discuss your brownfields redevelopment project, contact the Director of the Stevenson Center, Dr. Frank Beck ( fdbeck@ilstu.edu or 309-438-7090).

To inquire about how a student intern can aid a brownfields redevelopment project in your community: Host a Fellow.