Montrose, CO — With the goal of transforming a 20th-century relic of industrial power generation into a community asset and economic driver, the City of Montrose was recently selected to receive a $3.3-million cleanup grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The grant will be used to revitalize the Bullock Electric Steam Plant located on the city’s Uncompahgre River corridor.
Efforts to clean up the site of the former electric plant, located at 30 West South Fourth Street, have been part of the city’s larger community development strategy for over a decade. The EPA’s Brownfields Cleanup grant totals $3,327,850, the largest grant awarded to a Colorado community in 2026, with Montrose being one of just 43 communities in the United States to receive a highly coveted Brownfields Cleanup grant.
After years of planning and completing environmental assessments, building partnerships, and pursuing numerous grant opportunities, the City of Montrose is ready to take this project to the next phase, according to City of Montrose Community Development Director Jace Hochwalt.
“This is a major milestone for our community. Years of hard work, collaboration, and persistence have brought us to this moment,” Hochwalt said. “To be chosen as one of only 43 communities across the country is a tremendous honor and reflects the importance of this project.”
In its application to the EPA, the City of Montrose described the site and the major challenges facing its cleanup. The former Bullock Plant is a historic steam electric facility, originally coal-fired and later converted to natural gas, operated from 1953 to 1983 to supply electricity to the Montrose community. The 5.54-acre site includes a four-story power generation building and a half-acre cooling pond. The site is directly adjacent to the Uncompahgre River and across from the Uncompahgre Riverway Trail. The building has been exposed to the elements and deteriorated since it was shut down in 1983.
Prolonged vacancy and limited oversight over several decades have attracted illegal dumping, unhoused individuals encamped along the river, and school-age children and young adults who have accessed or vandalized the property.
The City of Montrose purchased the property in 2021 and has since secured the building, but the facility has sat unused and derelict since it was shut down.
The cost of properly cleaning up the site was the primary reason the City of Montrose pursued a Brownfields Cleanup grant. An initial Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA), conducted in 1992, indicated that bottom ash and fly ash were disposed of on-site in the former cooling pond from 1950 to 1977. Further sampling found deposits covering nearly the entire western half of the property, extending from the former cooling pond to the southern property boundary and totaling approximately 20,000 cubic yards.
However, groundwater sampling indicated no significant contaminant leaching to shallow groundwater; therefore, groundwater remediation is not required.
The former power plant structure itself remains heavily contaminated with asbestos and other toxic elements that require remediation. The City of Montrose will be working with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to address the toxic elements during cleanup activities.
Additional environmental concerns include the potential runoff of contaminated soils and fly ash into the Uncompahgre River, which could adversely affect aquatic habitat and recreational uses such as kayaking and paddleboarding.
Since the 1970s, the City of Montrose has strategically acquired and guided redevelopment of downtown and riverfront properties to protect natural resources while supporting resilient, appropriate reuse.
After an 11-year effort, the city acquired the former Bullock Steam Plant and developed a reuse strategy consistent with the Envision 2040 Comprehensive Plan (adopted 2021), the Uncompahgre River Master Plan (adopted 2011), and other land-use and revitalization policies. These plans prioritize remediation of legacy industrial sites, restoration of the river corridor, improved connectivity, and the promotion of local economic growth and redevelopment.
Starting in 2015, the City of Montrose began a community visioning process to determine how to reuse the site, using private and public partnerships to spark sales tax revenue generation.
Continued engagement with residents, regional recreation outfitters, educators, and public agency partners has shaped the evolution of reuse concepts. Technical assistance provided through EPA’s Land Revitalization Technical Assistance (LRTA) and the Kansas State University Technical Assistance to Brownfields (KSU-TAB) programs has supported evaluation of redevelopment options, environmental considerations, sustainable reuse strategies, and community engagement.
Hochwalt said the EPA award wouldn't have been possible without the contributions of many people over the years, including past and current city staff, City Council members, consultants, agency partners, and community stakeholders who have all played a role in moving the project forward.
“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. “This funding moves us closer to cleaning up a long-standing site and creating new opportunities for the future of our community.”
Following environmental cleanup, the city will retain ownership and redevelop the site for both public and private uses. The former power plant building will be adaptively reused as a multi-level indoor climbing gym to support year-round recreation, job creation, and private reinvestment.
Site improvements will restore riparian habitat, create flood-resilient green space, establish public river access for kayaking and fishing, reconnect the site to the Uncompahgre Riverway Trail and city park system, and incorporate sustainable energy features where feasible. The site’s proximity to Outdoor Range, a public school focused on hands-on, nature-based learning, will enable indoor recreation and STEM learning opportunities. Collectively, this reuse strategy transforms a contaminated, floodplain-constrained site into a connected economic and community asset that advances adopted plans, reflects community priorities, and catalyzes reinvestment in surrounding neighborhoods.
Hochwalt said the city will host future public meetings to gather additional community input for the project.
More information about this project will be made public once it becomes available.