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Huntington West Virginia Reclaims Closed Glass Plant, Wins National Environmental Award

Release Date: 10/20/2000
Contact Information: Ruth Wuenschel, (215) 814-5540

Ruth Wuenschel, 215-814-5540

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Huntington, West Virginia Industrial Center Project was recognized recently with one of 10 national Phoenix Awards for its innovative property redevelopment The award was presented here at the EPA’s National Brownfields 2000 Conference, a meeting of those involved in reclaiming contaminated sites for productive use.

The Phoenix Awards were created in 1997 to recognize individuals and groups who have cleaned up environmental contamination at abandoned industrial sites and stimulated economic development and job creation. Award winners are chosen by a team of government, environmental, business and academic professionals.

The Huntington Industrial Center Project involved the conversion of the vacant Owens-Illinois Glass plant into a multi-tenant industrial park. The project was launched in 1993 when the plant closed its doors, and more than 630 workers lost their jobs. The closing spurred a movement by the town’s residents to stop the downward spiral of population loss in Huntington.

Within 12 months of the plant’s closing, the city had completed a grass roots strategic plan with the Owens-Illinois redevelopment as its focal point. The Huntington Municipal Development Authority subsequently took title to the 42-acre complex and secured funding from several sources for cleanup and redevelopment. In May 1997, the first tenant announced its relocation to the industrial center and the creation of 300 new jobs.

The nine other Phoenix Award recipients are as follows:) The Industri-plex Site, Woburn, Massachusetts; 2) Edison Crossroads, Edison, New Jersey; 3) The Cisco Site, Spartanburg, South Carolina; 4) Fatima Family Center, Cleveland; 5) Enron Field, Houston; 6) Lewis & Clark Redevelopment Area, Kansas City, Missouri; 7) Northside Treatment Plant Redevelopment, Denver; 8) Metro North Corporate Park, Phoenix; 9) The Yards at Union Station, Portland, Oregon. For more information on these Phoenix Award winners, visit the award website at
www.phoenixawards.org.