Environmental Protection Agency officials announced Wednesday morning a $475,000 grant to help clean up and redevelop neglected property in Kansas City.
Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, spoke at the site of the former Horace Mann school, where affordable senior housing is now being constructed with the help of EPA funding.
He applauded the efforts of community leaders in the Ivanhoe neighborhood, where the redevelopment started in 2013, explaining that local organizing is key to the success of EPA-funded projects.
“We want the investment to realize a local community vision,” Stanislaus said. “That only happens with making sure community residents, community leaders are part of the process. Otherwise, you could have a result where projects get built, but they get displaced.”
The funding is part of the EPA’s Brownsfield program, which started in 1995 to encourage investment and redevelopment in abandoned and contaminated sites.
Among the previous recipients of various EPA Brownsfield grants are projects that lead to an ALDI grocery store on east 39th Street, senior apartments at 37th nd Paseo and the DeLaSalle Education Center at 37th and Paseo.
In addition to the Kansas City funding, St. Louis and the state of Missouri received similar grants for a total of $1.375 million.