Some work will have to be done at the site of Jefferson Street and Michigan Street in Plymouth before a building can be torn down at the location.
Plymouth City Attorney Sean Surrisi gave the Plymouth Redevelopment Commission members an update on the property through this weblink that was purchased by the city that used to house a Subway restaurant and a fireworks retail store. Even before that, the site was home to a gas station and work has been done to ensure that the area is officially cleared by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. Surrisi noted that the gas tanks were removed in the late 1980s.
“It’s thought to be that it’s compliant, but none of the final close-out paperwork was ever finished with IDEM by the previous owner,” explained Surrisi. “We qualified for this IDEM/Indiana Finance Authority program that will fully fund any work that’s needed to get that to site closure with IDEM standards.”
Surrisi said the state has hired an environmental consultant who has made an initial site visit. More assessments will be done in the next few months to see if any remediation needs to be done.
All of the costs will be paid for through the grant the city received.
The future plans for that location included a pocket park through the Marshall County Crossroads Regional Stellar Communities Initiative, but since the site was once deemed part of the North Michigan Street Historic District as it was once home to the first gas station in Plymouth, Surrisi said INDOT would not agree to fund that project until it is removed from the list.
“After some time passes we hope we can apply for additional grant funding so we can actually accomplish the pocket park,” said Surrisi.
City officials hope to receive more updates as more site visits are held.
