'Car czar' in town Thursday. Bearing $1.6 million for Chrysler plant re-use?
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
February 15, 2010
by Tim Logan
Is the region getting some federal help to find a re-use for Fenton's vacant Chrysler plant?
It appears so.
"Car Czar" Ed Montgomery and other federal officials are scheduled to be in town Thursday, two sources told Building Blocks. And while they could not confirm the purpose of the trip, it may well be to announce a grant to plan re-use of the massive twin auto plants Chrysler shut down last year.
In December, the St. Louis County Economic Council applied for nearly $1.6 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce to address the question of what to do with the huge site along Interstate 44. Along with local contributions, that grant would fund two years of study of cleanup, marketing and incentives designed to get the facility back into productive use. At the time they were hopeful the grant would be announced early in 2010.
At least 20 U.S. auto plants have been shuttered in the last two years; few have found a new purpose so far.
Both the Commerce Department and local government offices were closed Monday for the holiday and unavailable for comment, but the sources said Montgomery and high-ranking Commerce officials were scheduled to make the trip Thursday.
Check back Tuesday for more details on this developing story.
