LANSING, Mich. — State Sen. Michael Webber applauded a $400,000 Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) Brownfield Redevelopment Grant to Macomb County to support a mixed-use building project in downtown Utica.
The grant will help to further site assessments, remove contaminated soil, and provide a vapor mitigation system for new building construction at 7525 Auburn Road between downtown Utica and the city’s Jimmy John’s Field baseball stadium along the Clinton River.
“For the past decade, community leaders have worked hard with the state and other local partners to give new life to this brownfield site, and this funding is the latest success in the continuing success story that is Jimmy John’s Field,” said Webber, R-Rochester Hills. “This visionary effort has not only proven to provide a wonderful space for community building, but also continues to attract economic growth and development for Utica and the surrounding area.”
Redevelopment plans call for the construction of a 10,500-square-foot mixed-use building — office, commercial, meeting, and event space — that also will serve as the headquarters of the United Shore Professional Baseball League (USPBL). It will feature a covered patio for the public to use and sidewalks connecting it to the ballpark and downtown. The city estimates the project will bring 35 full-time and 16 part-time jobs to downtown Utica.
Built on a capped brownfield landfill site owned by Utica’s Downtown Development Authority that served as an unlicensed dump for household waste for 80 years, Jimmy John’s Field first opened in 2016 and is the home field for the four teams that compete in the USPBL along with the Lawrence Technological University Blue Devils.
Webber secured a $1.5 million investment to support improvements at Jimmy John’s Field that were included in the state’s fiscal year 2025 budget, recently signed into law by the governor.
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