Foley Partners Bruce Keyes and Beth Corey spoke at the National Brownfields 2008 Conference, May 5-7, 2008 in Detroit, Michigan. An estimated 6,000 individuals participated in this year’s conference, sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in cooperation with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA).
Mr. Keyes spoke on May 6, 2008 from 9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. with moderator Andrew Seth, The Ferguson Group and other speakers Patrick Doher, PE, JJR, LLC and Mark Gregor, City of Rochester Division of Environmental Quality. The session was titled “At the Water’s Edge: Remediation and Redevelopment” and explored strategies for overcoming the many obstacles to waterfront redevelopment–including the lack of public resources for environmental restoration, the need for infrastructure improvements, regulatory and institutional barriers, and the lack of coordination among various agencies–as well as the unique environmental challenges presented by waterfront projects.
Mr. Keyes also moderated a panel session on May 6, 2008 from 11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. with speakers Beth Corey, Foley & Lardner LLP, Ellen Hamilton, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Christopher Martel, CDM. The session was titled “Hot Dogs, Jazz, and the Creation of a Campus Community.” This panel looked at several universities that have expanded onto brownfields and landfills to meet their growth needs. Although other projects were discussed, one project, the University of Illinois – Chicago was spotlighted for having completely redefined the Maxwell Street neighborhood.
In addition, the University of Illinois – Chicago South Campus Redevelopment Project has been selected as a winner of the 2007 Community Impact Phoenix Award. This is a very prestigious award honoring individuals and groups who are working to solve the critical environmental issues of transforming abandoned industrial areas into productive new uses. Mr. Keyes and Ms. Corey, along with several other project team members, were honored at the Phoenix Award Plenary Ceremony which took place Tuesday morning of the conference.
They also presented an overview of the project during the Phoenix Award Panel Sessions.
For more information, please visit Brownfields 2008.
