$1 million will help environmental cleanup at Catasauqua’s Iron Works site

Oct. 25--Catasauqua received another financial boost from the state this week to help prepare the Iron Works former industrial site for redevelopment.

A $1 million grant from the Industrial Sites Reuse Program will provide funding to remove asbestos from buildings on the former FLSmidth site that are difficult to demolish without costly preparation beforehand.

State Rep. Jeanne McNeill, D-Lehigh, has been working closely with Catasauqua officials to help them secure available funding to make the project a reality.

"I'm excited for what is planned at this site, which will be a real asset to the residents of Catasauqua," McNeill said in a news release.

Catasauqua Council President Vincent Smith said the money will help free up the $1.5 million from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program last year to make infrastructure improvements at the site. The borough is still working with developer Dunn Twiggar on an agreement of sale for the remaining 12 acres of property along the Lehigh River. In 2017, the borough completed a new municipal complex on the northwest corner of the tract.

Smith said the borough is creating something of a public-private partnership to ensure the land is transformed in a way that can benefit residents, attract visitors and provide tax revenue for the borough well into the future.

No company has been willing to take on the environmental cleanup of a former industrial site in addition to developing the land, Smith said. The borough plans on taking care of the prep so that a company like Dunn Twiggar can invest in construction.

"The more money we can get in grants, the cleaner and more appealing the site is," Smith said Wednesday. "And the quicker the property will come to fruition."

The lack of an agreement of sale has not held up progress on the site, however. Smith said Catasauqua is moving forward on bid proposals for site abatement and demolition, expecting to use grants to reimburse any borough-incurred costs. Right now, he said, council is focused on keeping the project moving forward, demonstrating to those doling out the grants that this is a project worth the investment.

"The last thing the state would want to do is put money into something that's going to sit for two or three years," Smith said. "Our local representatives work hard for us, they really do. If we don't have these grant funds, we can't do the project. It's going to produce jobs and [taxable property] and there's no downside."

Morning Call reporter Sarah M. Wojcik can be reached at 610-778-2283 or swojcik@mcall.com.

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