Plans to tear down two unsafe buildings in Muncie are underway, but the problem of lingering contaminants leaves the sites still ultimately abandoned.
Demolition will soon take place at the Indiana Steel and Wire Factory on East Jackson Street and the Coca-Cola Factory on Willard Street because city building commissioners have deemed these buildings unsafe.
Barry Banks, director of land trust at the Red Tail Conservancy, said the board is considering acquiring a part of the land from the Steel and Wire Factory, but because it is considered a super-fund clean-up site, liability is an issue.
"We're considering it because it's a riverside woodland, and that's our highest priority of preserving," he said. "We try to preserve the wildlife corridors between woodland areas as much as possible."
Being along the White River makes this area ideal for preservation, but, as Banks said, it's complicated.
GK Technologies owns the factory. General Cable Corporation, GK Technology's parent company, is in charge of cleaning up the chemicals and polluted groundwater near the factory.
According to a press release, Muncie Building Commissioner Jerry Friend said he was glad the owners of the factory took it upon themselves to clean the area.
"It'll take a long time to clean it up, and I think they're doing a pretty good job of it," Friend said.
Property Manager Chuck Peters said there has been long-term remediation at the site, but they only recently decided to demolish these buildings.
"The area was looking pretty run down as you come into Muncie from Jackson Street," he said.
Recyclable material, such as metals, bricks and wood, will be segregated and the rest will be taken to landfills, Peters said. So far 50 to 100 truckloads of waste have been dumped, he said.
Craig Charles, a groundwater remediation consultant, said five buildings are being destroyed, 14 more are being torn down in the near future and 10 more buildings may be torn down later. The factory has been idle since 2002, he said.
Tearing down the abandoned Coke factory presents an entirely different issue.
Master Commissioner Darrell Peckinpaugh said tax dollars from Muncie residents will fund its demolition. The city has to find funding, and the owner of the building has to be evaded before demolition can take place, Peckinpaugh said. The owner of the building has been given an extension on his eviction deadline, he said.
Friend said 150 houses in Muncie would also be demolished soon. These projects are made possible from federal funding.
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