Brown County receives $10 million for Pulliam Plant site redevelopment

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - Brown County has secured $10 million in federal funding for redevelopment of the Pulliam Power Plant coal plant site at the Port of Green Bay.

An engineering firm is working to design a 40-acre state-of-the-art port facility to allow for more bulk cargo. That includes removal of the coal piles, new dock walls, dredging, filling the old slip, a rail spur and stormwater management features.

“This is great news for the Port and our regional economy,” said Port Director Dean Haen. “This new port facility at the mouth of the Fox River will generate jobs and economic activity that will be transformational for Green Bay and Northeast Wisconsin.”

The grant is from the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration’s Port Infrastructure Program.

“For Northeast Wisconsin to be economically viable into the future we need to be continuously leveraging strategic assets to assure our competitiveness to bring in bulk commodities that support many industries and employ thousands of people,” said Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach. “Once again, Brown County competitively secured $10 million by being united in our overall support of our Port of Green Bay.”

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) was among the supporters of the grant. She says the redevelopment will have an estimated economic impact of more than $87 million in the first five years. It is expected to create 20 jobs.

“We’re in a location where you’ve got the river with a boat, you’ve got a rail line that’s connecting to it, and you’ve got the interstate highway half a mile away. That kind of inter-connection does not occur very much any more. Most of those sites have already been developed at some point in the past. And this one is a brand new one. So, it’s certainly will have an impact on the economy in this area,” says Mark Walter, Business Development Manager, Brown County Port & Resource Recovery.

Brown County previously received a $15 million Neighborhood investment grant and $1.1 million Wisconsin Department of Transportation Harbor Assistance Program Grant. The county also received $3.9 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds.

The design phase will be completed by the end of 2022.

Construction begins in 2023, and the project should be completed by 2025.

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