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ReScape Award Ceremony Celebrates Transformation of Sites using Innovative Solutions

to Mitigate Significant Environmental Issues

Saint Paul, Minn. – November 16, 2012 – Minnesota Brownfields ReScape Award was given to three projects demonstrating innovation, collaboration, and exemplary results in revitalizing formerly contaminated land.  Awards were given in the categories of Economic Impact, Community Impact and Environmental Impact at a ceremony that took place at Union Depot in Saint Paul on November 15, 2012, from 4:30 – 7:30 p.m. An Individual Award of Merit was also presented to Ken Haberman, founder of Minnesota Brownfields.

The call for project nominations closed on September 14. From the twenty-six project nominations, nine finalists were selected and showcased at the ReScape Awards ceremony. Winning projects featured transformation of abandoned or underutilized sites using innovative solutions to significant environmental issues.   

Award Winners

The ReScape Award winner in the Community Impact category was Clyde Park.  Located west of downtown Duluth, Clyde Park was the former site of an iron foundry and heavy machining shop in operations for 80 years.  Working with the City of Duluth, the redeveloped Clyde Park now hosts several regional cultural destinations, including the Duluth Heritage Sports Center, the Clyde Iron Works restaurant and events venue, and Duluth Children’s Museum.

River of Goods/Terrybear Urns & Memorials won the ReScape Award for Economic Impact.  The River of Goods/Terrybear project transformed an economically distressed neighborhood in Saint Paul, eliminating a blighted former use, providing forty five jobs and more than doubling the property taxes payable in 2013 over the previous use. 

In the Environmental Impact category, Como Student Student Housing Soil Remediation landed the top prize. Response actions to contamination at a popular Minneapolis student family housing complex included excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated fill material.  Beyond the complexity of the site remediation, the project involved installation of permeable pavement to promote drainage and reduce stormwater runoff, and careful planning and excavation to allow maximum retention of existing mature trees on the property. 

An Individual Award of Merit was given to Ken Haberman, founder of Minnesota Brownfields. Ken formed the organization in 2006 to encourage the efficient investigation, assessment, cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated land statewide, and to provide a venue for the exchange of ideas and creative problem solving by a broad range of redevelopment practitioners. His hundreds of volunteer hours were essential in building initial momentum for Minnesota Brownfields and its initiatives.

For more information about Minnesota Brownfields, visit www.mnbrownfields.org. 

About Minnesota Brownfields
Minnesota Brownfields is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization whose mission is to promote, through education, research, and partnerships, the efficient cleanup and reuse of contaminated land as a means of generating economic growth, strengthening communities and enabling sustainable land use and development.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Stacy DeYoung
651-398-0590
stacy@weimarketing.com

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