.jpg)
State grants cleanup money in next stage of major redevelopment
The award of cleanup funds will advance plans to develop the old train depot in Ely.
Earlier this week, the city of Ely was awarded $312,357 from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development to pay for environmental cleanup of the three-acre site.
While home for decades to Ely’s train depot, the property at the corner of Camp Street and Central Avenue was last home to the now-defunct Wilderness Outfitters, and is now eyed for redevelopment.
Last year, plans were unveiled for a $3.2 million project that would renovate the property for a restaurant, brewery and outdoor event center.
Petroleum and other contaminants will be removed from the site as a result of the grant, which was nearly a year in the making and included a field trip to the property in August when city officials showed off the project to DEED commissioner Matt Varilek.
“This money is going to be for the rest of the rail yard,” said Harold Langowski, the city’s clerk-treasurer and operations director. “This also covers some of the investigation work. We’ll put this out for bids in the spring and get that hauled away.”
Environmental testing conducted earlier helped determine the scope of the contaminant removal.
“What ended up happening was that DEED wanted us to better find the contaminated area and wanted us to do additional soil borings,” said Langowski. “From that soil profiling, we better defined the area of contaminated soil.”
Vacant for years and deteriorated to blight conditions, the property is one of many in Ely that has been purchased by the Ott family and eyed for major redevelopment.
Initial work to stabilize the main structure has begun, but the key to the project is the back side of the property, which is envisioned for an outdoor event center including stage.
The depot was built in 1889 and is believed to be one of the first structures in Ely.
It operated as a train depot until the late 1960s and later served as the home of Wilderness Outfitters for more than 40 years.
Drawings included with the presentation showed a bar and restaurant with 80 seats and an expanded deck and patio on the north side of the building.
A microbrewer y is planned as part of the project along with a vast area behind the structure for outdoor events and concerts.
The first two phases of the project encompass the environmental testing and soil removal, as next steps. Those include about $2.4 million in spending to renovate and restore the building and develop the event center.
If all comes to fruition, the project is anticipated to create 22 new jobs, increase the local tax base by $27,368 and leverage $1.7 million in private investment, according to a news release announcing the state funding.
Langowski said he anticipates “a lot of heavy construction,” this year and that the project could come to light in 2026.
