Bay City has been one of the more successful communities in Michigan when it comes to brownfield redevelopment, which is why EGLE Director Phil Roos held his latest brownfield tour and roundtable there in February. Director Roos, EGLE staff, city leaders, and developers toured two formerly contaminated sites: North Peak, which is being turned into a restaurant and a brewery with three loft-style apartments above; and Water Street Lofts, a mixed-use commercial building with 89 housing units. Those are two of the nine successful redevelopments the community has done with EGLE support. Nearly $12 million in State of Michigan funding has drawn more than $226 million in capital investment and created 208 new housing units and almost 1,000 jobs (see the graphic at the end of this story for the breakdown).

The roundtable focused on Bay City’s transformation, the future of brownfield redevelopment, and the proposed brownfield legislation. “Bay City is a strong example of how sustained investment in brownfield redevelopment can completely change a community,” said Director Roos. “Over the last 30 years, Bay City has transformed former industrial and contaminated sites into housing, jobs, riverfront access and destinations people are proud to call home. This is what is possible when state and local partners work together to turn environmental challenges into long-term opportunities." 

Congratulations to EGLE Brownfield Coordinator Michelle Bakun, who was honored for 30 years of service. EGLE Remediation and Redevelopment Division Director Mike Neller presented her with the award in December. Michelle joined the Superfund team in 1991 while she was still a student at Michigan State University working on her bachelor’s in environmental science. She did field work, attended public meetings, and reviewed work plans. She was later hired into the Livonia District Storage Tank Program of what was then the Environmental Response Division. Michelle has spent her entire career in various roles within EGLE RRD. She worked as a project manager on leaking underground storage tank sites from 1993-2001, as the district enforcement coordinator from 2001-2013, and since 2013 as a Brownfield Coordinator. Michelle’s wealth of environmental experience and passion for helping her communities has made her a true asset in accomplishing the work of RRD.

“Chevy in the Hole” is how people in Flint referred to the factory where the United Auto Workers Union formed in 1936. General Motors demolished the plant in 2004, leaving a 60-acre contaminated site behind on the banks of the Flint River.

It took 20 years of incremental progress and more than $15 million in funding from EGLE, the Michigan Department of Transportation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Forest Service, the Michigan Land Bank, the Mott Foundation, and others to make it happen. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources recently acquired Chevy Commons and is combining it with 200+ acres along the Flint River to create the first state park in Genesee County.

Another major EGLE park redevelopment is wrapping up, while construction is underway on a third. We’ll start with the groundbreaking for Main Street Park in Chelsea. The former site of Federal Screw Works, Detroit Urban Railroad Transformer company, and Consumers Energy was so contaminated that developers wanted nothing to do with it. The Main Street Park Alliance bought it along with a neighboring contaminated property in 2023. A $1 million EGLE Brownfield Redevelopment Grant paid for the excavation, transportation, and disposal of more than 31,500 tons of contaminated soil. Other funding came from the city of Chelsea, Washtenaw County, and the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund. The park will have a pavilion, community gathering space, a skate park, a climbing wall, and courts for basketball, bocce, and other games. In addition to the on-site amenities, the park is expected to have ¾ of an acre of green space, ¼ of an acre of native plants, and, eventually, more than an acre of tree canopy.

And as for the park project that’s wrapping up, we present Ralph C. Wilson Centennial Park on the shore of the Detroit River. A $1 million EGLE Brownfield Redevelopment Grant helped turn a contaminated section of the Detroit riverfront into a 22-acre park that’s expected to draw as many as a million extra visitors a year to the riverwalk.

The site at the corner of West Jefferson Avenue and Rosa Parks Boulevard has a long history of rail transportation and industrial uses and was home to the Detroit Free Press printing and distribution center from 1979 until it was bought by the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy (DRC) in 2007. The property was transferred to the State of Michigan in 2009 and leased back to the Conservancy. The Free Press building was demolished, leaving behind an empty field that was West Riverfront Park. In 2017, the DRC formed a Community Advisory Team to identify community priorities for the new Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park.

Before any redevelopment work could begin, the contamination on the site needed to be addressed. Environmental assessments found metals and organic compounds in soil and sediment, likely originating from the Detroit River’s long industrial history. EGLE awarded the project a $1 million Brownfield Redevelopment Grant to pay for installation of fill material, gravel, and direct contact barriers for the new park’s Water Garden. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) provided $20 million through the Great Lakes Legacy Act Program to cap contaminated sediment in the river. The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, named for the philanthropist and Detroit native, contributed $43.5 million, with tens of millions more coming from other charitable organizations.

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park opened in October of 2025. It has four-acres of playgrounds, a large lawn for performances and events, an open-air sports pavilion, and the aforementioned Water Garden. The new park is the next step in revitalizing 5.5 miles of Detroit’s riverfront, leaving only about a half mile still to be redeveloped.