Pine Bluff will receive $500,000 in a Brownfields Assessment Grant for assessing, cleaning up and revitalizing local properties, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday.
The grant will be used to inventory and prioritize brownfield sites, prepare four cleanup plans and a Brownfields Revitalization Plan, and conduct community engagement activities, according to a news release.
The target area is the Pine Bluff Downtown Development District, with the Saenger Theatre, Hotel Pines and bus terminal buildings labeled as priority sites.
Scott Mason, administrator for the EPA’s South Central Region, said the Brownfields program exemplifies EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s goal of “Powering the Great American Comeback” while cleaning up contamination and supporting local economies.
“During the Trump Administration’s first 100 Days, we listed 27 Brownfield sites as Ready for Anticipated Reuse which allows businesses to invest in properties without the fear of potential contamination from hazardous chemicals,” Mason said in the release.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“With these grants, we will see even more properties transform into thriving economic centers while providing a safe environment for all Americans.”
The Brownfields Program has provided nearly $2.9 billion in grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse since 1995, according to the EPA.
The agency added more than $42 billion in cleanup and redevelopment have been leveraged by brownfields investments.
“Over the years, the relatively small investment of federal funding was able to leverage, from both public and private sources, more than 220,500 jobs,” the EPA stated.
According to the Pine Bluff Advertising and Promotion Commission (A&P), the Hotel Pines on Main Street and Fifth Avenue was built in 1913 and remained in operation until 1970. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and changed ownership four times since 1991. Local nonprofit Pine Bluff Rising is the last known owner of the building, having acquired it in 2017, according to the A&P.
The Saenger Theater on Second Avenue opened in 1924 and was complete with a Broadway stage and movie screen and was in operation until 1975, according to the A&P.
It changed ownership twice since 1980 before Old Town Centre Theatres donated it to the city in 2012.
The city council approved restoration efforts on the theater as recently as July 2023.
The Pine Bluff Urban Renewal Agency purchased the old bus terminal at 221 W. Fourth Ave. for $112,000, in 2021.
