The Park Rapids Armory was once believed to be a building that was too big to renovate and too expensive to tear down. The facility had been vacant for 18 years prior to restoration and had a number of environmental issues preventing redevelopment of the site. Due to a number of local private and public partners, a plan for restoration was put into place. Braun Intertec joined the effort as the project’s environmental consultant.
Our Environmental Consulting group performed a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) and discovered a number of issues impacting redevelopment including: the presence of a 6,000-gallon underground storage tank (UST) which could have caused soil contamination in the surrounding area, a collection of paints, solvents, and thinners at multiple locations throughout the site, and the potential presence of asbestos-containing materials (ACM), among other potential contaminants on the site.
Cleanup activities on the site that Braun Intertec performed or oversaw included: asbestos removal, lead paint abatement, PCB and hazardous materials disposal, UST removal and soil abatement, stormwater abatement, replacement of bituminous and public infrastructure, and a Phase II ESA.
After more than two years of planning, environmental cleanup, installation of new utility services, including state-of-the-art stormwater abatement infrastructure, energy efficiency upgrades and accessibility improvements, Phase I of “Armory Square” opened to the public. Phase I featured an expansion by Summerhill Farm, a well-regarded local retailer, into a new, year-round facility on the corner of 2nd Street and Park Avenue.
Phase II included restaurant space, studio spaces for offices, education, visual artists, music and dance instruction, gallery spaces, workshops, and an event pavilion for community events, conferences and performing arts.
The Park Rapids Armory Restoration project is an example of the ability of Braun Intertec to navigate the environmental challenges associated with large redevelopment projects, and our ability to be a trusted partner on large commercial projects.
