EPA awards $4.5M to clean up former Shopko site, other Stevens Point properties
By Brandi Makuski
STEVENS POINT — Just weeks after a proposed redevelopment of the former Shopko property hit another setback, Stevens Point received some good news that could help move the long-vacant site closer to construction.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded nearly $4.5 million in Brownfields funding to the city and its Redevelopment Authority to clean up contamination at the former Shopko property and investigate other redevelopment sites across Stevens Point.
The funding includes a $3,964,223 cleanup grant awarded to the Redevelopment Authority for the former Shopko property at 1200 Main St. and a separate $500,000 assessment grant awarded to the city for environmental studies and redevelopment planning at multiple sites throughout the community.
According to the EPA, the former Shopko site is contaminated with volatile organic compounds, metals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The cleanup grant will pay to remediate those environmental hazards while also supporting community engagement efforts.
The assessment grant extends well beyond the Shopko property. EPA officials said the money will fund eight Phase I environmental site assessments, six Phase II assessments, three cleanup plans and one revitalization plan.
The targeted areas include Stevens Point’s downtown core and the Division Street corridor, with priority sites including the former Shopko property, a former bank and industrial sawmill site, a former automobile dealership and a former commercial flour mill property.
The city has received EPA Brownfields funding before. In 2018, Stevens Point was awarded a $300,000 assessment grant to study potentially contaminated properties throughout the city, including sites along the Business 51 corridor. Earlier Brownfields grants also helped assess and clean up the former Crossroads Commons mall property, now home to Mid-State Technical College and Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, as well as the former Lullaby Furniture property near downtown.
Without those tax credits, the proposal — which included about 50 mixed-income apartments, a child care center in partnership with UW-Stevens Point, commercial space and structured parking — cannot move forward as planned.
Community Development Director Jarod Kivela said the Redevelopment Authority is expected to discuss its next steps at its July 14 meeting, including whether to give Commonwealth another opportunity to apply for tax credits next year or reopen the project to other developers.
The EPA funding removes one of the property’s biggest long-term obstacles by allowing environmental cleanup to move forward. It does not, however, resolve the project’s most immediate hurdle — securing financing for redevelopment. Until a development proposal receives the necessary funding or a new proposal is selected, the future of the site remains uncertain.
Mayor Mike Wiza called the grant “a tremendous step forward” for the project.
“Having the funds to properly clean up the environmental issues on the site will allow the master plan to move forward,” Wiza said in a statement. “Development projects had to be put on hold until this cleanup can occur. I expect us to start seeing significant movement on the approved site plan now.”
Environmental contamination has long complicated redevelopment of the former Shopko property, but it has not been the only challenge. Previous redevelopment proposals have also fallen through because of rising construction costs and financing hurdles. With federal cleanup funding now in place, city officials can address the site’s environmental issues while continuing to determine what ultimately will be built there.
The EPA’s Brownfields Program, established in 1995, helps communities assess, clean up and redevelop contaminated properties. According to the agency, the program has awarded more than $3 billion nationwide, leveraging more than $45 billion in redevelopment investment and supporting more than 228,900 jobs through fiscal year 2025.