OakPointe Centre to receive nearly $1 million in EPA grant funding

May 26—OakPointe Centre, a project of Somerset's God's Food Pantry, will receive $999,821 in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfield Grant funding to facilitate the removal of asbestos, lead-based paint and other environmental contaminants from its future home on Bourne Avenue.

God's Food Pantry purchased the Bourne Avenue building — formerly Somerset's Palm Beach Factory — from the Somerset-Pulaski Economic Development Authority (SPEDA) in 2020 with the intention of expanding its services to combat food insecurity in the region. In 2022, God's Food Pantry announced it will open OakPointe Centre in this 100,000-square-foot facility, which will not only include a food pantry, but also a clothing and feeding center and 45,000 square feet available for lease to other entities dedicated to moving poverty-stricken families forward in their lives.

Brenda Russell, executive director for God's Food Pantry and OakPointe Centre, has been working on plans for this facility for the last three years. Her vision includes bringing multiple help agencies together in one building to better serve individuals and families in need.

"Our goal is to focus on education and compassion to empower people to make effective and lasting changes in their lives that will break the cycle of generational poverty helping to move them to a higher quality of life," Russell said. "We know that changes made now will further impact and empower the generations that follow and those changes will make our community healthier and stronger in so many ways."

But before this facility can open, Russell said, the building needs significant clean-up. The Palm Beach Company facility was built in 1946 by Somerset Industries, a corporation formed by local residents interested in the development of their community. Palm Beach produced men's clothing and was the first opportunity for women to work in Pulaski County, as women manned almost all the sewing machines. With the exodus of domestic production, Palm Beach closed its doors in 2002 and the property was returned to the people of Pulaski County. It was leased to several companies over the years but by the fall of 2020 was again left vacant and in need of repair.

"We knew going into this that the asbestos and lead-based paint were going to be hurdles we would have to find a way to get over," Russell said. "This grant takes care of that hurdle and allows us to focus on the next steps we need to take."

The property is considered by the EPA to be a brownfield which, by definition, is a vacant or underutilized site where the threat of contamination has made redevelopment more complex. Bringing a brownfield back into active use through grants such as the one being awarded benefits the community by reducing blight and vacancy, creating jobs and amenities, and reducing hazards to human health and the environment. In addition, recent studies have shown that areas improved through brownfield grant funding have helped nearby property values increase by 5 to 15 percent, have increased tax revenue for local governments and have helped reduce the rate of crime in those areas.

SPEDA President and CEO Chris Girdler credited Russell's persistence in garnering support and finding funding sources to make this vision for helping people in Somerset, Pulaski County and the Lake Cumberland region a reality.

"SPEDA is proud to be a small part of this initiative," Girdler said. "We were able to take an otherwise abandoned building that was serving no purpose for our community and show that a holistic approach to economic development works. Through this, we are living up to our motto of 'Making Business About People,' and that means people from all walks of life. We care about our community and our neighbors, and this project will have an exponential positive impact on the people of Somerset and Pulaski County. It is just the beginning with many more great initiatives to come."

Somerset Mayor Alan Keck applauded Russell's efforts to provide a unique service to the community that endeavors to empower people to improve their station in life. The City of Somerset has committed its support to the effort.

"Empowering people to improve their current situation in life by providing holistic resources and creating future opportunities for sustainability is a commendable mission and one that has proven to be incredibly effective in combatting generational poverty," Keck said. "I am proud to support OakPointe Centre and believe it will be an incredible asset to our community."

Pulaski County Judge-Executive Marshall Todd said Russell, like so many other community advocates in this area, is doing the daily work it takes to move Pulaski County forward.

"You would be hard pressed to find a better representative of the heart of what Pulaski County is than Brenda Russell," said Pulaski County Judge Executive Marshall Todd. "It takes compassion to do what Brenda does. With her compassion comes a sense of determination that is seeing the OakPointe Centre come to fruition. This facility will not only provide nourishment to those that need it the most, but it will also feed the souls of the many volunteers and helpers trying to make Pulaski County a better and more compassionate place to live."

Russell thanked community leaders for their support of this project and the EPA for grant funding to help the organization cross a major hurdle for cleaning up the Bourne Avenue facility.

"A project of this magnitude takes many people coming together and a ton of collaboration with other service providers," Russell said. "Pulaski County is full of caring people who have reached out willing to help wherever it is needed. I do want to take a moment to thank SPEDA, Mayor Alan Keck, Judge Marshall Todd, the Lake Cumberland Area Development District, my governing Board of Trustees at God's Food Pantry and our other elected officials for their unwavering support in OakPointe Centre. Together, we will build something wonderful for our community!"

Gov. Andy Beshear and Energy and Environment Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Goodman announced that 10 Kentucky communities and agencies hade been selected by the U.S. EPA to receive over $7.9 million in grant funding to assess and clean up brownfields.

"This record-setting amount of funding supports economic development and creates safer and healthier spaces that our families can enjoy," Gov. Beshear said. "I look forward to seeing the positive effects these cleanup projects will have on communities across the commonwealth."

Contact Steve Cornelius at scornelius@somerset-kentucky.com.