Overview of the Brownfields Institute

In October of 2005, The Center for Environmental Policy and Management at the University of Louisville in partnership with Louisville Metro Government’s Metro Development Authority and the Center for Neighborhoods, received a three year grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  This grant would permit the three agencies to collaborate around the notion of fostering community participation in brownfields redevelopment in the Park Hill Corridor of Louisville’s west end. The three partners initiated the project by developing the “Brownfields Institute,” a series of workshops that serves to provide a forum for building knowledge in the broader community about brownfields cleanup, in general, and in the Park Hill Corridor specifically.

The goal of the grant is to open paths for community participation in the revitalization of this corridor in terms of addressing brownfields.  This is being done by providing training and technical assistance to community stakeholders. Residents, developers, non-profits, social service providers, bankers, land owners, business owners, religious leaders, environmental specialists will be among those expected to participate in the Institute.

The collaboration will provide a forum for community stakeholders to develop a vision for the corridor that can then be used in a larger planning effort. The workshops will also serve to connect individuals and organizations for the purposes of developing specific community stakeholder driven projects within the corridor that will foster brownfields revitalization. The workshops will continue through 2008 and will build community and economic development by bringing people together around a common interest in revitalizing Louisville’s once vibrant industrial corridor.

Products from the activities generated by this grant will serve as stepping stones to further grant applications and other larger efforts aimed at investment in the revitalization of the Park Hill Corridor.