At this abandoned, blighted factory—consisting of 187,227 square feet in 21 different structures on 13.5 acres in the three separate parcels—a tour some time ago by a Wisconsin state legislator produced a brutally honest but necessary wake up call.

The state official had toured the former canning facility a few years ago and remarked that it reminded him “of Europe.” Unfortunately, this wasn’t a compliment: The lawmaker wasn’t comparing what he saw in downtown Waunakee with the Champs Elysees in Paris or Hyde Park in London. Rather he was equating the decaying remains of the former Stokely USA vegetable canning plant with bombed out Bosnia after the Yugoslav civil war. “He’s right; it did look like a war zone,” Village Administrator Kim Wilde said while sitting in a conference room inside Waunakee’s gleaming new Village Center on the former canning plant site.

Project: Waunakee Village Center Location: 333 S. Madison Street, Madison, Wis.

The abandoned, blighted factory negatively affected surrounding property values and the safety of residents. Soil and groundwater contamination was discovered on parcels A and B, and required remediation. Parcel C had abandoned equipment, concrete storage areas, and old paving that all needed removal and disposal.

The project, completed in May 2006, was instrumental in converting a defunct and underused industrial property into a multiple-use site. The 45,261-square-foot Village Center has become the heart of Waunakee, a community of about 11,000 residents a few miles west of the state capital, Madison. It’s a place where people of all ages and interests gather daily. In addition to centralized services for senior citizens, the center houses classrooms, banquet and meeting rooms, administrative offices, a full kitchen, and a state-of-the-art fitness center, including a full-size gymnasium and indoor running track.

“We wouldn’t be here today without Ayres Associates’ help [The village of Waunakee retained Ayres Associates to assist the village with managing environmental concerns],” said Susan McDade, community services director for the Village of Waunakee. “The Wisconsin Departments of Commerce and Natural Resources brownfield grants were undoubtedly the pieces that got this project rolling. It told us, ‘Hey, we can do this.’ ”

Project distinction:

Ayres Associates designed a regional stormwater detention basin constructed on a portion of the development site adjacent to Six Mile Creek. The detention basin provides much-needed flood relief as well as water quality improvements for stormwater flow into Six Mile Creek.

Ayres Associates also designed a bicycle/pedestrian trail around the detention basin in addition to a prairie garden and community vegetable/flower gardens. Interpretive signs were installed along the trail as an instructional tool for the students attending the adjoining elementary and middle schools.

Moreover, the walking trail around the stormwater detention pond serves as an aesthetic outdoor leisure walking area for those living at the new senior housing facility constructed on the former canning site.

With careful project management, the building and infrastructure were completed on time, within budget, and according to the projected pro forma. It was important to village leaders to deliver these results because projected total costs for the community center, completion times, and operational expenses had been extensively publicized.

Funding/Redevelopment costs:

The challenge was to develop a plan for reuse of these blighted and contaminated properties. Parcel A would be used for a new private senior housing complex, parcel B for a new community/senior center, and parcel C for a regional stormwater detention facility. Additional village infrastructure was needed to make development possible, including streets, utilities, and stormwater conveyance improvements.

Using an innovative mix of grants, private dollars, tax increment financing, impact fees, borrowing, and a partnership with a neighboring community, this project transformed a vision into reality. Ayres Associates assisted the Village with applications for brownfield, site assessment, stewardship/greenspace, and stormwater detention basin grants. To date the Village has received the following grants: $625,000 in brownfield grants from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce; $160,000 in site assessment grants from the WDNR; a $150,000 Urban Nonpoint Source Pollution Stormwater Grant; a $62,000 Community Development Block Grant from Dane County; and a $221,647 Stewardship Grant.

The redevelopment costs totaled $15.6 million.

On-site pollution/technologies/remediation costs:

Ayres Associates performed a Phase 1 environmental site assessment and Phase 2 investigation, as required for submittal with the grant applications. Various materials identified as containing asbestos were recommended for removal from the buildings before demolition, including pipe fittings, floor tile and mastic, and a thermal jacket on a boiler in the main plant. Paint was observed to be chalky, peeling, and flaking from most painted surfaces throughout the facility. Because of the age of the buildings and the fact that they were used for industrial purposes, it is likely that the paint contained lead.

Ayres Associates oversaw the abandonment of an approximately 350-foot well, including removing the pump and piping. The total remediation costs were approximately $90,000, not including $35,000 in site investigation fees. Demolition costs for the projects, including demolition, removal, and disposal of structures on all three parcels, exceeded $600,000.

The project’s regional stormwater detention basin provides much-needed flood relief as well as water quality improvements for stormwater flow into Six Mile Creek. The gravel driveways and graveled vegetable loading and processing areas were frequently sprayed with hydraulic and machine/vehicle waste oils to suppress dust during the operational years. Consequently, a significant portion of the surface soil on this 6-acre parcel contained elevated levels of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and some heavy metals.

The cost to exhume this large volume of surface contaminated soil and gravel was prohibitive considering the enormous other development costs the village needed to incur. Ayres Associates worked with the regulatory agencies in the design and approval of a large 6-acre regional stormwater detention basin, beneficially reusing the impacted surface soil within the elevated berms of the detention basin. Impacted soils were encapsulated within the stormwater detention basin berms above the static water line, covered with several feet of clean fill, and vegetated to mitigate erosion and provide stability.

Environmental ROI:

Ayres Associates performed a Phase 1 environmental site assessment and Phase 2 investigation. Tasks included management of lead paint, soil, debris, groundwater, and any previously unidentified solid or hazardous waste materials. Tasks performed as the site was developed included site capping and grading to promote runoff and reduce infiltration into fill materials.

Various materials identified as containing asbestos were recommended for removal from the buildings before demolition, including pipe fittings, floor tile and mastic, and a thermal jacket on a boiler in the main plant. Paint was observed to be chalky, peeling, and flaking from most painted surfaces throughout the facility. Because of the age of the buildings and the fact that they were used for industrial purposes, it is likely that the paint contained lead. Other suspected hazardous materials were found at the site, including materials containing polychlorinated biphenyls, heavy metals, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons from spraying of waste oil on gravel driveways and parking areas, and areas with known petroleum releases.

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