When the Erie Western PA Port Authority bought the former Erie Coke property in 2024, they started developing a vision for the future of the contaminated site off of East Avenue.<\/p>\n
Last week, the authority established that vision, with the port authority\u2019s board of directors voting unanimously to adopt the \u201cMaster Plan Refresh: A Vision for the Former Erie Coke Site.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe acquisition of this property expanded our footprint by over a third, and so that really created new opportunities that we wanted to consider in light of all the different things we have going here along the waterfront,\u201d said Anna Frantz, Deputy Executive Director of the Erie Port Authority<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0Erie Port Authority hears proposal to turn former Erie Coke site to U.S. naval shipyard\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Frantz said environmental reports, economic impact and community input from hundreds of people were all taken into account when forming the new master plan, which updates a previous plan from 2018.<\/p>\n She said the plan contemplates how the port authority will utilize the nearly 200-acre site to best meet the needs of the Erie community while also providing a vision and a flexible framework to guide the environmental cleanup and future development on the site.<\/p>\n The plan itself is divided into chapters detailing existing conditions, economic analysis, site reuse scenarios and more, but it will likely take years before anything new is built on the property.<\/p>\n \u201cDEP has been on the site now for quite some time doing testing to understand the full scope of the environmental challenges we have, and they are continuing to do that work, so no cleanup has really taken place yet, but that will be the next phase as we move ahead,\u201d said Frantz.<\/p>\n \u00a0Water taxi returns to Lake Erie\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Frantz said the DEP\u2019s testing will help them fully understand the scope of the environmental issues at the site, and when testing wraps up, they already have some federal funding to begin the long process of demolition and remediation.<\/p>\n As for where the Department of Environmental Protection<\/a> stands with their work, they sent us a statement reading in part, \u201cThe DEP\u2019s contractor is currently preparing a remedial alternatives analysis report that will identify potential remedial options for the site, along with cost estimates for each. The final report is tentatively expected in November 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n If you would like to view the Master Plan Refresh yourself, a link can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n