WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Warner Robins received a $1 million grant from the Environment Protection Agency that will help clean up pollution in Commercial Circle.
The city hopes the next building in Commercial Circle will come down this fall, and they hope residents will be enjoying a revitalized downtown by 2030.
Javarre Gainer is already seeing some of the changes.
Gainer works at the barber shop on South Commercial Circle. About three months ago, the city tore down the building next door.
"I'm used to a building right beside here," he said. "Now, it's just grass."
He says it opened up the area, and it offers his barbershop a little extra exposure.
"A lot of people come through, but we're in a plaza and there are other barbershops around here," Gainer said.
Warner Robins now owns the buildings next to him as well, and they plan to tear those down someday. In its place, the city plans housing, shopping and entertainment.
Gainer says the revitalization will be nice for leisure but also good for business.
"It will be very important because it can bring more people through," he said.
However, the city has some cleaning up to do.
"Without this grant, we would have seen a little bit of a delay in the project, but hopefully this will keep us going forward with good momentum," Community and Economic Development Director Kate Hogan said.
About a year ago, the city conducted environmental testing around Commercial Circle and found soil pollution. The city needed to clean up the pollution before rebuilding on the land. Now, Hogan says they have $1 million to start cleaning it up this fall.
"Some properties remain that we still need to do some analysis on," she said.
The money will also allow them to do additional testing. Warner Robins currently owns 80% of Commercial Circle. The last 20% is where they want to do the testing.
They plan to work with business owners, so they can test the plots to make sure they're building around healthy land.
"I think we're going to continue to see past dry cleaners be a challenge for this area, but we finally have some resources in order to hopefully address the contaminants," she said.
She says it will allow them to build a successful future as they welcome and support businesses.
"You want your business to be at the highest level possible, so you can continue to succeed in life. That's all I'm focused on," Gainer said.
Hogan says they plan to start the cleanup this fall. The work could take several years.
She says cleanup would include digging out any bad soil and replacing or treating it. Hogan says it will not impact demolition plans.