Kenosha---The payoff won’t come for years, but the redevelopment of the former auto assembly site in the center of the city is never far from the mind of newly-elected Mayor John Antaramian.
"How we redevelop that area will have a tremendous impact on the whole city," Antaramian said while taping Saturday's Community Matters program. "We need to make sure we take our time and make sure it's done right," he said.
The city is in the middle of cleaning up ground contaminants on the 110-acre, former industrial site.
The worst of the pollution reaches to the water table, Antaramian said. For that 11-acre hot spot, oil-eating bacteria will be used to sop up the contaminants.
The clean-up is expected to cost around $25 million. The city has already secured nearly $20 million for the job.
Once the site is clean, then redevelopment can begin. An innovation center and light industrial have been identified as centerpieces, something that Antaramian says he buys into.
On other topics:
*City officials are in the process of expanding a nuisance ordinance aimed at the owners of properties that require a frequent police presence.
*Antaramian is still optimistic that problems with the surface of the Dream Playground can be resolved without a court fight.
*In a bid to increase park usage, the mayor said he'd like to develop Lincoln Park as a template for other parks in the city. Under the previous administration, a summer jazz concert series was established and a disk golf course was installed. City partners are also getting involved, including the Boys and Girls Club.
The full interview will air Saturday from 11:15 to noon. The program will be immediately available in the archive.
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(NAnt20..”it’s done right”..:23..)
Speaking on Saturday’s Community Matters program, Antaramian said the clean-up of pollutants on the site will take a few more years. Ten acres have already been done. The worst of the pollution reaches the water table some 20 feet down, and will require injecting oil-eating bacteria into the ground. Antaramian endorses much of the site’s redevelopment plan that’s already in place, including the development of a research center that’ll include area colleges.
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On other matters, Antaramian says he hopes the surfaces problems that have kept the Dream Playground closed this spring will be resolved without a court fight. He and city staff are also working to develop a nuisance ordinance aimed at properties that require the frequent attention of the police department. The full interview from last Saturday is at wgtd-dot-org.
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