Here’s what a six-figure federal EPA grant means for downtown Rock Hill redevelopment
A $300,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant will help Rock Hill with ongoing redevelopment efforts at Knowledge Park.
Rock Hill is one of three South Carolina municipalities to receive the funding announced Thursday afternoon.
“The grants will provide these communities in South Carolina with resources to clean up contaminated lands and return them to productive use,” said Mary S. Walker, Region 4 administrator with the EPA. “Overall, Brownfields funding provides communities with an opportunity to convert contaminated sites into community assets that will attract jobs, encourage partnerships and achieve broader economic development outcomes.”
Rock Hill has several large, recent or ongoing redevelopment projects downtown. The former Herald newspaper site will become senior living. The former Good Motor Company site will become residential, retail and dining. Former mill space downtown has become an indoor sports facility, office space, parking decks and have other uses.
Last fall, city economic development leaders outlined more than half a billion dollars in recent or ongoing downtown redevelopment. Much of it on former industrial property that required considerable cleanup efforts before a developer started.
“The Rock Hill community is heavily invested in Knowledge Park,” U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman said. “This endeavor has been in the works for many years and is the result of tremendous effort by local leaders and our business community.”
The grant money, Norman said, will assist in further growth. He said there clearly will be a return on investment.
“This area will ultimately bring thousands of jobs and have a significant positive economic impact on Rock Hill, York County, and both Carolinas,” he said.
Many of the cleanup efforts downtown rely on a state program to assist new owners in identifying environmental issues and getting a clean bill of health for properties before sales. Rock Hill Economic Development Corporation entered into contracts on several of those large redevelopment projects downtown to kick-start cleanup efforts. The group then helped find a buyer or developer, without itself taking title to property.
Nationwide, the EPA tabbed 155 communities and tribes for grants. Those grants total almost $66 million.
