Local - Beich Plant Fire Site To Become 23-Home Subdivision

Chunks of brick scattered among dirt and grass are some of the few remains of the 170,000-square-foot building that burned one year ago on the 5-acre lot at Lumber and Grove streets. Today is the first anniversary of the fire that destroyed the former Paul F. Beich Co. candy factory at 101 Lumber St. The vacant four-story building produced candy until 1973. The site is now planned to become a 23-home subdivision. John Burrill, executive director of the nonprofit Mid Central Community Action, which owns the site, said most cleanup was finished last month and the redevelopment is on schedule.

"My schedule may be optimistic, but I'm hoping that we can get some of the infrastructure construction started later this year and maybe get started on the first of the homes in 2007," Burrill said.

Burrill said the planned subdivision has decreased from 24 to 23 houses because of difficulty fitting 24 on the land. The city of Bloomington and State Farm Bank are funding equal shares of a $400,000 grant to Community Action for the demolition and redevelopment of the factory site. Burrill said demolition and cleanup likely will total about $220,000, and infrastructure and house construction could cost about $3.5 million." I personally and we as an agency feel really good about the project," Burrill said. "We feel that we are building nice homes that the neighborhood can be proud of and the families can be a proud of." Click here to read the full Pantagraph story. A year later, little remains of Beich plant By Greg Cima gcima@pantagraph.com Appraisal , Real Estate , Bloomington , McLean , Illinois