Last year the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleared the former Drewry’s brewery site of asbestos-laden debris and other toxic susbtances.
Now the city of South Bend is moving forward with plans to demolish buildings.
Much to the delight of the site’s weary neighbors, things are moving forward at the former Drewry’s site at Portage and Elwood avenues on the city’s northwest side. Last year the EPA hauled away some 10,000 tons of demolition debris. Still left for the city to remove is a large pile of scrap metal, along with buildings that are in unsafe condition.
On Wednesday the city’s Board of Public Works will consider inviting contractors to bid on demolishing some of the site’s buildings. It won’t be all the buildings to begin with. The city wants to start with taking down the structures with collapsing roofs.
Caleb Bauer, the city’s community investment executive director, says it could take all of this year and next year to get all of the buildings and their foundations cleared for potential redevelopment starting in 2026 or later.
But it’s progress at the site, something the neighborhood hasn’t seen in a long time.
"The goal is that every construction season we're moving this forward and getting this into a state where the neighborhood can be proud
