But nearly $ 2 million is still needed to complete the work – and the city recently learned it would not receive a $ 500,000 Environmental Protection Agency grant it had applied for to help fund the work. .

Superintendent of Environmental Conservation Kelly Kerrigan told members of the City Redevelopment Agency last week that officials were crossing their fingers for a $ 973,000 grant from the Community Economic Development Department of the ‘State.

The $ 973,000 is the maximum amount allowed – each site is eligible for a grant of up to $ 4 million, Kerrigan explained – and the city has received the balance for past cleanup activities.

The site was originally developed around 1918 by the Bridgeport Motor Company, a truck assembly and repair company, according to an engineering report on the property.

Contract plating was mined on the property from approximately 1936 to 1995 for metal finishing, electroplating and anodizing. The old dilapidated factory was demolished in October 2015.

At the time, authorities believed the city could begin marketing the property in earnest within three months of the demolition and cleanup being completed.

It obviously took a bit more time – and money.

The location of the property, according to its application to the EPA, is a “blank slate” that “will make a property ideal for a variety of types of businesses.”

It also adjoins the former Raybestos Memorial Field, which is used to collect waste formerly associated with Raymark Industries. To facilitate access, the EPA has constructed a road on the Contract Plating property that “will be a permanent feature that will be incorporated into future site redevelopment.”

Redevelopment Agency member Randy Vidal wondered what the next steps would be now that the EPA has denied the request.

“Are we at an impasse?” he said.

“We can still sell the property,” Kerrigan said. “There’s just going to be a little bit of cleaning left that we’ll have to negotiate, who’s going to handle what, who’s going to pay for this and all that.”

She said city officials would learn more about why they missed EPA money during a debriefing this summer.

Based at UConn Connecticut Brownfield Initiative helped with the grant application, and through return channels, learned that the city’s application was a bit too short in the assessment process, according to Kerrigan.

“They were all really good apps, we barely missed the cut,” she said.

One thing experts have noticed, she said: The city has no private partners interested in the redevelopment of the property.

“They mentioned that it would be helpful to have a developer on board,” Kerrigan said. “I think that helps sell the story a bit.”

Kerrigan echoed those sentiments later in the week.

“We are looking for developers for this property, and we will do it more formally in the short term,” she said in an email Wednesday. “So if you know of any interested buyers please send them to us!” “