Governor Mike DeWine is sending $61 million in state brownfield remediation grants to communities around Ohio, and a healthy slice of that cash is headed straight for the Scioto Valley. The awards target contaminated, long-vacant properties, from former gas station sites to a fire-damaged historic hotel, to make them safe for redevelopment and new housing.
State officials carved the funding into $45.8 million for cleanup and remediation work and $15.3 million for environmental assessments. It is the latest round in a program that has steered nearly $780 million into brownfield projects since 2021, according to Spectrum News1. Leaders in Columbus say the new awards were made possible by recent budget changes that expanded the program and created a county set-aside system intended to spread the money across regions.
Scioto County And Portsmouth
Scioto County landed two grants worth just under $900,000. The Village of Otway will receive $490,025 for asbestos abatement and interior demolition at the long-vacant Otway School, while the City of Portsmouth will get $400,208 to clear and abate two downtown commercial buildings at 802 and 804 Chillicothe Street for planned community housing, as reported by Scioto Valley Guardian. The Otway project focuses on a 1917 school building that has been empty for more than two decades and is tied to expansion plans for the neighboring community center.
Ross County Projects
In Ross County, the county land reutilization arm secured several assessment grants. The awards will fund an investigation at a former gas station in Clarksburg, environmental studies at the historic Velvet Ice Cream warehouse in Chillicothe, and work to close underground storage tanks so properties can be readied for housing and park use, according to reporting by Scioto Post. County officials said one parcel is expected to be donated to the village of Clarksburg for a veterans memorial park once the remediation is complete.
Pickaway, Pike And Other Southern Counties
The Pickaway County Port Authority scored four assessment grants totaling more than $1 million. The money will pay for environmental study work at the Circleville municipal building, the former Purina Mill, the former DuPont Tedlar facility, and the Pickaway County Fairgrounds. Pike County also received funding to assess a former gas station in Jasper, according to the awards list reproduced by Litter Media. Those assessments typically involve soil borings, groundwater sampling, and underground storage tank closure to map out contamination and plan the cleanup.
Vinton County picked up two awards. The larger grant, $879,244, will go toward asbestos abatement and partial demolition at the fire-damaged Hotel McArthur in downtown McArthur. A second grant of $109,354 will clear the former Vinton County sheriff’s office site for future downtown development, Scioto Valley Guardian reports. County officials and the convention and visitors bureau envision turning the remediated hotel into a boutique lodging, restaurant, and visitors center to support Hocking Hills tourism and create roughly 11 permanent jobs.
How The Program Works And What Comes Next
The grants are part of Ohio’s Brownfield Remediation Program, which lawmakers expanded in the latest biennial budget. The program now reserves up to $1 million per county for fiscal year 2026, according to program materials from the Ohio Department of Development. State reporting notes that remaining county set-aside applications open May 18 and close June 5 for projects seeking those reserved funds, per Spectrum News1.
Local officials say the mix of assessment money and full remediation dollars is a crucial first step to finally unlock private investment and kick-start long-stalled projects. Coverage of the awards suggests this round could clear the way for new housing, small-business space, and tourism-focused development in Portsmouth, Chillicothe, McArthur, and other Scioto Valley communities, according to local and state summaries of the funding, including reporting reproduced by Litter Media.
