When the City of Duluth won a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency brownfields-assessment-demonstration pilot grant to assess potential redevelopment properties, it hired Barr to help plan and implement brownfields property assessments and Phase II investigations. One of the properties investigated was the former Clyde Iron Works property, a 10-acre site with 19 industrial buildings and contamination such as elevated metals, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, and petroleum-contaminated soil.
Barr helped the City of Duluth and Clyde Park win more than $2 million of Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development grants for brownfields assessment and environmental cleanup. Working for the developer, Barr determined response actions, provided construction observation, and designed vapor-intrusion controls in conjunction with site redevelopment activities. The site now features a multi-use sports pavilion with a 1,400-seat hockey arena and sports-training facility as well as a restaurant, bar, and event venue.