Montrose Business Times
The City of Montrose has been awarded a $3.3 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up the former Bullock Electric Steam Plant, a long-vacant industrial site along the Uncompahgre River that city officials hope to transform into a recreation and economic development hub.
According to a city news release, the EPA awarded Montrose a $3,327,850 Brownfields Cleanup Grant to remediate contamination at the former power plant at 30 W. South Fourth St. The city said it was the largest Brownfields Cleanup grant awarded to a Colorado community in 2026 and that Montrose was one of just 43 communities nationwide selected to receive the funding.
“This is a major milestone for our community. Years of hard work, collaboration, and persistence have brought us to this moment,” Community Development Director Jace Hochwalt said in the release. “To be chosen as one of only 43 communities across the country is a tremendous honor and reflects the importance of this project.”
The former steam-powered electric plant operated from 1953 until 1983, first as a coal-fired facility before later converting to natural gas. According to the release, the 5.5-acre property includes a four-story power generation building and a former cooling pond and has remained vacant and deteriorating for more than four decades.
The city purchased the property in 2021 after years of pursuing its acquisition as part of a broader effort to revitalize the Uncompahgre River corridor.
According to the release, before the city acquired the site, the deteriorating property had become a target for illegal dumping, vandalism and unauthorized entry because it had sat largely vacant since the plant closed.
Environmental assessments identified approximately 20,000 cubic yards of coal ash and fly ash on the property, primarily in and around the former cooling pond.
The release said the power plant building also contains asbestos and other hazardous materials that will require specialized remediation in coordination with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Although groundwater sampling found no significant contamination requiring cleanup, city officials said remediation is needed to reduce the risk of contaminated soils reaching the adjacent Uncompahgre River during runoff events.
According to the release, the cleanup grant represents the culmination of more than a decade of planning, environmental assessments and grant applications.
The project aligns with several city planning efforts, including the Envision 2040 Comprehensive Plan and the Uncompahgre River Master Plan, both of which identify the former power plant as a priority redevelopment site because of its location along the river corridor and near downtown.
The city also credited technical assistance from the EPA’s Land Revitalization Technical Assistance Program and Kansas State University’s Technical Assistance to Brownfields program with helping evaluate cleanup strategies and redevelopment options while engaging residents and community partners throughout the planning process.
The city said community visioning efforts began in 2015 and consistently pointed toward transforming the former industrial property into a destination centered on recreation and public access to the river.
Current plans call for adaptively reusing the historic power plant building as a multi-level indoor climbing gym while complementing surrounding outdoor recreation opportunities.
According to the release, the broader redevelopment would restore riparian habitat, improve flood resilience, reconnect the property to the Uncompahgre Riverway Trail and city park system, and expand public access for activities including kayaking and fishing.
The city also envision the site supporting STEM education and outdoor learning opportunities through its proximity to Outdoor Range, a public school focused on nature-based education.
Hochwalt credited current and former city staff, City Council members, consultants, agency partners and community stakeholders with helping secure the federal funding.
“There have been a lot of conversations, a lot of coordination, and more than a few late nights spent putting together applications and laying the groundwork needed to get us to this point,” Hochwalt said in the release. “This funding moves us closer to cleaning up a long-standing site and creating new opportunities for the future of our community.”
According to the release, the city will retain ownership of the property following cleanup while pursuing a mix of public and private redevelopment.
Additional public meetings will be held as the plans for the project move forward, and more information about the project will be released as it becomes available.
