Erie County sealed the deal on a $5.5 million dollar purchase of 148 acres of land at the old Bethlehem Steel site in Lackawanna.
The Erie County Industrial Development Agency is transforming the land into a clean energy business park. The land was officially purchased from the former owners Tecumseh Redevelopment Tuesday morning.
The first step of the project calls for building this 80,000 square foot facility that will be powered by solar energy. The county Executive and Lackawanna Native, Mark Poloncarz is confident this one of a kind mixed use space will help bring jobs back to Western New York.
"We know it can happen. We already had parties reach out to us as they knew that we were in the process of inquiring the land. But now that we own it, it's going to more it quicker and faster," Poloncarz said.
The County also plans to install a new road leading to the site from Route 5 and a new railroad track. All of this to make the site attractive to potential manufacturing companies.
Lackawanna steel mill industry once provided thousands of jobs to people for decades. The site has become a relic of the past after manufactures started leaving in the early 1980s.
