Lancaster City officials are hoping to push forward the redevelopment of the Lancaster Stockyards site, or at least address a health hazard.

City Council members Monday reviewed a proposal that would seek a $250,000 state loan to help pay for cleanup efforts already under way at the dilapidated stockyards, at Marshall Avenue, Lititz Pike and North Plum Street.

The loan from the state Department of Community and Economic Development would pay about half the estimated cost of demolishing sheds, pens and storage buildings on the 21-acre site and the removal of dumped tires, abandoned vehicles and debris, said Randy Patterson, the city's director of economic development and neighborhood revitalization.

Council's Economic Development & Revitalization Committee reviewed the loan application and recommended it for approval. It will be taken up by the full council at its meeting next Tuesday.

The loan would be funneled through the city to Tim Harrison, a Staten Island, N.Y., developer. Harrison, of TCH Realty & Development, would repay the funds to the city. The money would go into a loan fund for city economic development.

"It won't make it pristine, but it will clear it," Patterson said of the ongoing work at the site.

Harrison this morning declined to comment on the record.

Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray called for clearing of the site in late July after city fire officials determined the warren of disused buildings had become a fire hazard and city police said they could not effectively police the site.

Also during the summer, state Department of Environmental Protection officials reported that two mosquitoes at the stockyards were found to carry the sometimes deadly West Nile virus.

Gray said state officials wanted to help.

"They recognize it as a real problem and an impediment to economic development, as well as a real threat to health and safety," the mayor said.

DCED officials were willing to make the loan, but it would still take months to go through the channels, Gray said. Based on assurances that the loan would be made, Harrison went forward with the cleanup, Gray said.

"I told him I was unwilling to wait for the bureaucratic stuff to be done, so he went ahead on good faith," said the mayor.

The work is slated to be completed by Nov. 10, Patterson said.

Patterson, Gray and Harrison all declined to discuss possible plans for the site. No plans have been submitted to City Hall.

Patterson is working closely with Harrison, the mayor said.

Patterson is working with Harrison on "some things that would be very interesting" if they would come to fruition, the mayor said. Despite the economy, something could come as early as next year, said Gray.

Previously, proposals have been made for the stockyards site to be redeveloped as a retail shopping center anchored by a large grocery store or a big box store, such as a Wal-Mart.

Less than a century ago, the Lancaster Stockyards was the largest livestock trading center east of Chicago. At its peak, a half-million head of cattle a year passed through the stockyards gates. It has been largely abandoned for several years.


Staff writer Bernard Harris can be reached at bharris@LNPnews.com or 481-6022.