A piece of Elkhart’s industrial past could soon get a fresh start.
City leaders are moving forward with plans to clean up and redevelop the long-vacant Roundhouse site, a 15-acre property just west of downtown that once served as a major railroad hub.
Assistant Redevelopment Director Adam Fann says the city plans to apply for up to four million dollars in federal cleanup funding early next year. He says crews have already identified what remains beneath the surface.
“Five years ago we did a pretty big project where we cleared a lot of it and found that a lot of the foundations were still in place,” Fann said.
Environmental testing has revealed high levels of lead and arsenic in the soil, left behind from decades of industrial use. Once the site is remediated, the city hopes to see new housing or mixed-use development on the property, but Fann says plans aren’t set.
“What has been planned in that space is not written in stone, and we’d really like to hear from the community on what it is that they would like to see within that neighborhood,” he said.
The Roundhouse cleanup is part of Elkhart’s broader Benham West revitalization effort, which aims to restore and reconnect neighborhoods affected by past industrial decline and urban renewal projects.
