Marseilles to apply again for Brownfields grant for Nabisco, Washington School cleanup

Marseilles still is looking to get a Brownfields grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to apply to cleanup of the vacant Washington School and old Nabisco buildings.

This time around the city is forming a coalition with Mendota, Peru and Streator, in hopes that a coalition of communities will be more likely to acquire the grant funds.

Mayor Jim Hollenbeck said its grant writer Fehr Graham Engineering and the North Central Illinois Council of Governments advised Marseilles officials the communities that received grants in the latest funding cycle were among coalitions, encouraging La Salle County communities to come together.

Hollenbeck had said this summer contractors gave him a ballpark figure for demolition of Washington School of $250,000 to $300,000, if it could obtain ownership of the property. Hollenbeck also has said the Brownfields grant is a first step in trying to address any issues these buildings may have in identifying whether there’s potential for future development.

“Fingers crossed, with a coalition, we are able to get it,” Hollenbeck said.