Cincinnati looking to up Boston Beer grant money

Citing increased remediation costs for brownfield property adjacent to the Boston Beer Company site in the West End, Cincinnati City Council is considering an ordinance that would increase the amount of Clean Ohio funds it plans to request.

The ordinance would allow the City to apply for up to $3 million in Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund (CORF) grants from the Ohio Department of Development, an increase over the $750,000 Clean Ohio Assistance Fund (COAF) grant application it approved last May.

COAF grants are capped at $750,000.

The Boston Beer Company is paying for the grant application process and has retained The Payne Firm, Inc. to provide testing and analysis services of contaminated groundwater on the site at 1654 and 1660 Central Avenue.

The Boston Beer Company would also pay for the required 25 percent in matching funds.

The deadline for CORF Round 5 applications is August 25, with a total of $17 million in grants available.

Council is expected to vote on the ordinance at its August 6 meeting, and grants will be awarded in December.

In 1997, Boston Beer Company purchased the former Hudepohl-Schoenling complex to contract brew its Samuel Adams brands, and, in 2005, they completed an $11 million upgrade that included an above-ground beer cellar and new copper brew kettles.

The brewery employs about 100 and brews between 600,000 and 700,000 barrels per year.

Previous reading on BC:
Clean Ohio grant could aid in Boston Beer expansion (5/23/08)