Vaughn Literary Park

In FY 2022, the U.S. EPA’s Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) provided support and technical assistance to the City of Ashland, Wisconsin for community visioning related to site cleanup, reuse, design, and climate-resilient revitalization planning for brownfield sites in the community. The City identified two sites in particular, 501 3rd Street West and the Ashland Ore Dock Upland Pilings Area, as priority projects for technical assistance within its overall revitalization efforts. This Reuse Plan focuses on the 501 3rd Street West site, referred hereafter as the “Baron Radiator site,” which is located in Ashland’s downtown area directly behind the city’s public library and which was formerly used as an automobile repair garage. The City of Ashland owns the property.

The Baron Radiator site is 7,000 square feet in area (0.161 acres); 17% of the site, or 1,190 square feet, is covered by a one-story mid-twentieth century concrete-and-steel garage. The building and site were formerly home to the Baron Radiator Service business. The remainder of the site consists of concrete and gravel parking areas. The business last operated in the early 2010s, upon which it was abandoned due to the former owner’s inability to
operate the business.

There is no known contamination on the site, although the full status of the site is unclear, as a prior site investigation completed in December 1999 and a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) completed in September 2011 did not examine the subsurface conditions beneath the floor slab of the building or test for asbestos-containing materials (ACMs). A groundwater-related deed restriction is tied to the property as a result of a former leaking underground storage tank (LUST) that was removed in 1998.

In 2022, the City of Ashland purchased the site from the Baron family with the intent of performing additional environmental assessment work and readying the site for redevelopment. The technical assistance completed to prepare the site for reuse and redevelopment is detailed in this document
and consists of a brownfield reuse plan that incorporates Ashland’s vision and goals for the site while considering environmental conditions and remediation options.