Marseilles is spending $7,500 with Fehr Graham Engineering to start a brownfield study at the Nabisco building, the old Washington School, and a third place Mayor Jim Hollenbeck isn’t ready to name because he hasn’t spoken with the property owner yet. The goal is to find out if there are contaminants like lead or asbestos and remove them. Otherwise, the buildings will just keep sitting unused with developers not willing to consider them.
If the city can get a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the property owners could be spared most of the cleanup expense.
Nabisco had a box making operation in this building from 1920 to 2002.