The 70-acre site that was once home to Muncie's Chevrolet plant sits, bare and quiet and cold, just west of downtown.

Since the plant -- which employed thousands in its heyday but only a few hundred at the end -- closed in spring 2006, the buildings have been swept away by General Motors-hired demolition crews. A high fence rings the plant property.

The land that remains could be something, someday, though. The property's future is the focus of a Feb. 8 "visioning and planning" session to help guide officials on what neighbors, developers and the general public hope might happen, said Brad Bookout, assistant director of business development for the Muncie-Delaware County Economic Development Alliance.

"This site shaped Muncie for the last 100 years," Bookout said. "Now is our opportunity to use the site to help shape Muncie for the next 100 years."

Before that kind of change can happen, however, the former Chevy site is likely to undergo millions of dollars in brownfields remediation for possible contamination from the auto parts manufacturing operations at the location since 1935.

'Start planning'

After the plant closed, GM officials said they weren't certain what kind of contamination might be present at the former Chevrolet site. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management noted the possibility of leaking underground storage tanks.

While Bookout said he didn't know what contaminants might be present at the site, he was told by a GM bankruptcy trustee that the company did not anticipate the site being remediated sufficiently to allow housing.

Bookout noted that $800 million was set aside in GM bankruptcy proceedings for abandoned plant sites, with $3.7 being earmarked for the Chevrolet Muncie location. Another $2 million was planned for "unknowns" that could be found during initial brownfields remediation.

That money could be released in March or April, Bookout said.

"If we're going to get the site cleaned up, now is the time to start planning," Bookout said. "If we have a vision ahead of the other sites in the U.S., we are going to be more likely to receive dollars for redevelopment. That would be the next phase, being ready to apply for federal dollars to do redevelopment."