FAQs
What’s a Brownfield?
A Brownfield is a property where its expansion, redevelopment or reuse is complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. Left untouched, a Brownfield can pose insurmountable environmental, legal and public and private investment challenges.
Successful Brownfield reuse and redevelopment often depends on early considerations of the range of potential future uses for the Brownfield site. Local community priorities, market conditions, infrastructure, public health issues and local ordinances shape Brownfield reuse opportunities, so having a reuse plan grounded in the local conditions directly influences how that site is characterized, assessed and cleaned up.
Learn more about Brownfields and how Missoula County addresses them on the Missoula County website.
How does the park plan to build sustainably?
The reuse plan also aims to not adversely affect the local ecology through new development, and to be a sustainable and climate-resilient site, using best management practices such as implementing native plantings and sustainable materials where feasible when developing.
How much community engagement went into the reuse plan?
Missoula County Parks, Trails and Open Lands had months of on-the-ground community engagement in Clinton, such as community, stakeholder and school board meetings, a school assembly and a public open house.
Community engagement is not over! Follow this project page to stay up-to-date on the next opportunity to voice your thoughts and follow the community’s working group on Facebook. And if you want to donate, you can do so at the Friends of Missoula Parks website.
When will a decision be made on whether to tear down and rebuild, or restore the community center? How can the community get involved in this?
The County will depend on Brownfields Grant funding to complete any cleanup, including demolition. To receive this funding, the county must evaluate all reasonable cleanup alternatives. This process includes public outreach. We anticipate beginning this process in fall 2023, with a preferred alternative being identified by May 2024. Depending on funding and program capacity, clean-up activities could begin as early as summer 2024, but this timeline is highly uncertain.
Why is the County building a skatepark before fixing the community center’s issues?
There is community momentum around the skatepark, and taking advantage of the opportunity to develop the southern end of the park will establish the property as a public amenity in the near term while planning and mobilization continues for the rest of the park. The County was approached with significant funding commitment to build a skatepark in this location, which is another reason why a skatepark is being pursued now.
The County received Brownfield grant money for the community center but work still needs to be done on the plan for cleanup. Also, a Brownfield grant can only pay for removal of the environmental contamination, not for the demolition or rebuilding of a new community center So, funds for this effort would need to be raised in another way.
How much will all this cost to operate and maintain, and who will pay for it? Who will maintain the park?
We anticipate the operations and maintenance of the park, at full buildout, to cost around $37,500 per year, which will come out of a mixture of donations, grants and taxes. The County is the site owner, but the development and maintenance of the park will depend on interested stakeholder groups the County can partner with, such as Clinton School, local nonprofit organizations or local athletic clubs who may have an interest in building and maintaining program elements at this location. Missoula County can formalize these partnerships with registered non-profit stakeholder groups through establishing Maintenance and Management Agreements that clearly outline roles, responsibilities and boundaries.