The City of Knoxville will hold a community kickoff meeting next week for the Downtown North Brownfield grant program. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 19th, in the Community Room of the Knox County Health Department, 140 Dameron Ave. Parking is available in the surface lot on Dameron Avenue.

The Downtown North area is bounded on the west by I-275, I-40 and 17th Street, on the south by the railroad tracks adjacent to Dale Avenue and West Magnolia Avenue, on the east by North Broadway, and on the north by Woodland Avenue.

The city was awarded a total of $400,000 in grant monies from the Environmental Protection Agency: $200,000 for petroleum site assessments, and $200,000 for hazardous material site assessments. These funds can be used toward Phase I and Phase II assessments. Phase I assessments are generally considered to be the first step in the process of environmental due diligence, while Phase II assessments typically focus on sampling soil and water from a specific site.

"We are excited to have the opportunity to work with the EPA, TDEC, property owners and our consultant, S&ME, to perform Phase I and Phase II assessments in the Downtown North area," said Anne Wallace, Project Manager for the City's Office of Redevelopment. "We anticipate that the work will continue to spur economic redevelopment in this core neighborhood of the city."

Anyone with an interest in Downtown North is encouraged to attend.

More information about Downtown North is available at www.knoxvilletn.gov/downtownnorth.