With every month, excitement and interest in the Community Hub project grows. HCCF staff and volunteers are being asked a version of “so….what’s happening at the corner?” on a regular basis. Here is an update on the status.

As a refresher, on August 3, 2021 Michigan EGLE (Environmental, Great Lakes, and Energy) announced a $600,000 grant to support the cleanup of environmental hazards at the site. The future Community Hub was once a gas station. Since that grant, we have been working with EGLE and an SME Environmental Team to complete testing at the site.

Each dot represents as place where testing was completed. Some soil testing was even done via hand auger to ensure we were properly capturing all data.

Environmental testing has been ongoing for over a year! The soil has been sampled from 30ft deep to surface level in multiple locations across the site. Interior testing of walls and flooring were also conducted. Just last week, September 22, 2022, Maurer Electric helped get the environmental team to the roof to sample multiple locations of roofing materials. Vapor monitoring, a test that captures air coming up through the floors, is ongoing to ensure that any contaminants in the ground aren’t going to impact the air quality in the building. To the best of our knowledge, no new environmental tests will need to be conducted before moving forward with the project.

The next step in the process is the remediation of the environmental issues uncovered through testing. Specifications for removal of soil and demolition are in progress currently. Once environmental hazards are removed or remediated, HCCF can then begin the development portion of the project.

To prepare for development, HCCF continues to work with TSSF Architects of Saginaw and R.C. Hendricks as our construction manager. With these two entities on board, we are updating exterior plans, refining aspects of the site, and finalizing floor plans. TSSF will also be putting together full construction documents in the coming months to ensure that we can move forward as soon as the site is safe to do so! A gallery with updated floor plans and a draft of the site is below.

The answer to the “so…what’s happening on the corner?” question, in short, is “lots of things! Just not visible things that you can see when you drive by”. While progress is moving slower than we’d like (we can’t wait to get this corner cleaned up and welcome everyone to our new home) it is moving forward. We want to ensure that the site is handled properly and safely. The slow progress and challenges only reaffirm our belief that HCCF was the ideal development partner for this site. As action continues on the site, we will provide additional updates!

If you’d like a tour of the site, we’d be happy to walk you through the existing building and explain the vision for the Community Hub. Contact Mackenzie mackenzie@huroncounty.com, 989-269-2850.