M I LWAU K E E ’ S G R E E N L I G H T D I ST R I C T

CASE STUDY: HARBOR PARK KENOSHA, WI

From 1870 to 1960, this large Brownfield site operated as the Simmons Mattress manufacturing plant. After 1960, American Motors Corporation

(AMC) began manufacturing cars there until 1988. Portions of the site were also used for a power plant, coal yard and dock. An adjacent 26.5-acre

parcel of the property was also used to dispose of contaminated sediment for more than 15 years. In the late 1980s, the manufacturing plant was decommissioned and demolished and investigation and cleanup of the property began. The property was sold to the city of Kenosha in 1994.

Kenosha has a population just over 90,000 and is located in the southeastern part of the state along Lake Michigan. Kenosha was at the cutting edge of Brownfield redevelopment for Wisconsin in 1994, when plans to redevelop the Harbor Park area formulated. At that time, there was little research into Brownfield redevelopment. The city laid the foundation for the responsible cleanup of Brownfield areas within Wisconsin, forming a partnership with the only other organization that had any history of redeveloping abandoned industrial areas, the state of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). With the help of the DNR, Kenosha began the cleanup process.

The city followed the guidelines set by the DNR for the clean up of Brownfield's. First, the city installed a "cap" of clean soil over the site. Next, the planners had to conduct a cleanup related to a remaining storage tank. Finally, the city had to perform long-term groundwater monitoring at eight locations. The city spent $18.5 million on the cleanup and infrastructure, including the installation of streets and lamps, of the Harbor Park area. The rest was government subsidized funding making the project very affordable.

CASE STUDY: MENOMONEE VALLEY MILWAUKEE, WI

Milwaukee's Menomonee River Valley has undergone two major transformations in the last century. Originally a

vibrant marsh, it developed into the industrial heart of the region, then gradually deteriorated to an

underutilized wasteland. However, the past five years have brought an increase in interest in the Valley, and it is

now on the verge of a third transformation - one which will revitalize both its marshland origins and its industrial

use, and demonstrate how these two can successfully coexist.

CASE STUDY:MENOMONEE VALLEY MILWAUKEE, WI

Menomonee Valley Industrial Center47 acre development with flexible lot sizes

Description:The abandoned 140-acre Milwaukee Roadyards are currently being made in to a business park with an innovative storm water runoff buffer using native plants. The $20 million Brownfield project has been called the city's "largest environmental clean up in history." Two of the landmark smoke stacks will remain standing in Chimney Park to memorialize what were once the largest rail yards in the nation.