New business on old foundry

Aug. 13—The former Dussault Foundry on Washburn and Union streets may soon become the home of a new business. The plot of land overlooking the Erie Canal has been an empty lot since before the beginning of the century and, until relatively recently, a brownfield that needed remediation.

Now the city is seeking interested parties who would like to develop the lot and bring it back onto the tax rolls.

According to a Common Council item from the Aug. 2 meeting, there has been more than one local business that has expressed an interest in the property. The council voted unanimously to put out a request-for-proposals to gauge what interested parties intend to do with the site.

The history of the Dussault Foundry has been a checkered one. In the early 1990s, the New York State Department of Conservation (DEC) found contamination on the site and started clean-up work. At about the same time, the foundry went bankrupt and was abandoned by 1995.

The property remained tax delinquent while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found and removed contamination. Still it was not until 2008 that the city took partial ownership of the property. More investigation was conducted by the EPA and in 2010 the city took full ownership — directly after the county was awarded cleanup funds in 2010. The EPA finished its remediation in 2012.

"After a lot of cleanup, the properties are remediated," Brownfield Program Manager for Niagara County Amy Fisk said. "The city and county has worked with state and federal environmental agencies for decades and I'm confident we can get some use there."

With that in place, Mayor Michelle Roman said there was a lot of opportunity at the site. Describing it as a place "to build fresh," Roman said it was also a piece in the puzzle of the businesses and community already in place around it, noting Niagara Produce, Bear Bottom Wholesale and St. John the Baptist Church, as well as the Cornerstone Ice Arena, are neighbors.

"The city would like to see a business that adds not only to the tax rolls, but also brings jobs and employees and be a longtime constituent in our community," Roman said.

The resolution that was approved by the Common Council gives the Real Property Management Committee — a board made up of Roman, Treasurer Sue Mawhiney, Chief Building Inspector Jason Dool, City Assessor Tracy Farrell and Community Development Director Carrie Gugliuzza — the authorization to accept the most responsible bidder's plans for future development of the properties.

"The city is going in a positive direction," Roman said. "This is another sign of that growth."