State money will help clean up two sites for redevelopment in St. Paul

A future bouldering gym and health center got a boost from the state this week, with grants to clean up pollution on the former industrial sites in St. Paul.

The two sites are among a dozen grants the state Department of Employment and Economic Development announced this week, totaling $7 million. St. Paul has received more than 100 of these Contamination Cleanup and Investigation grants over the last 30 years.

This year, the money will go toward cleaning up the site of the future bouldering gym on Water Street, on Harriet Island, and a YMCA health center on Wheeler Street, just north of the YMCA’s Midway gym.

The Water Street site has potential contamination from a foundry, a railroad depot, a petroleum chemical maker and a pharmaceutical manufacturer, according to DEED. The state is contributing $354,839 to clean up the 3.3-acre site.

A nearby apartment and artist studio development also received a DEED cleanup grant in 2021.

The state funding will contribute $619,821 for the site in Midway, to clean up petroleum pollution as the YMCA tears down a building it is now using as a youth center and builds a new “wellbeing” center, similar to a facility in downtown Minneapolis offering health coaching and other services.