Nabisco, Washington School buildings in Marseilles to be inspected for EPA grant application

The Marseilles City Council voted to hire Fehr Graham Engineering for $7,500 to inspect the Nabisco and Washington School buildings in an effort to obtain a U.S. EPA grant.

Marseilles Mayor Jim Hollenbeck said there also is a third property that can’t be named publicly yet since he hasn’t been able to get a hold of the owner.

“It’s a first step in trying to address any issues the buildings may have,” Hollenbeck said. “If there are issues there that need cleaned up, we’ll get it cleaned up to hopefully make the buildings more marketable.”

Hollenbeck said the Brownfield grants have more money available this year when compared to other years and Fehr Graham has a good success rate on obtaining grants for cities to get these types of properties cleaned up.

It doesn’t guarantee the city will receive the grants but getting the inspections done before submitting the grants, Hollenbeck said, will give the city a beter shot.

“There are various sites throughout the United States, all over the country that are like this,” Hollenbeck said. “A lot of them are old schools that need to be addressed. I think we’ve got a pretty good shot.”

The former Nabisco Plant closed in 2006 as the Field Container Company’s folding carton plant. It employed about 85 people, according to a March 2006 The Times article.