T-L Photos/GAGE VOTA Belmont County Land Reutilization Corporation chairperson and Belmont County Treasurer Kathy Kelich, on left, Great Stone Viaduct Education Society chairperson Ed Mowrer, and Ohio EPA Ohio Brownfield Development and Voluntary Action Program supervisor Corin Fogle pose with the EPA Region 5 award for outstanding contributions in Brownfield Development.

BELLAIRE — The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency awarded the Great Stone Viaduct Education Society the EPA Region 5 award Thursday for its outstanding contributions in Brownfield Development.

The award honored the society’s efforts in revitalizing the historic viaduct and surrounding areas. It came along with a $499,667 grant from the Ohio Department of Development that the society received prior to the award presentation.

Great Stone Viaduct Education Society chairperson Ed Mowrer said that the grant money has already been spent to conduct comprehensive remediation of the soil surrounding the bridge, which included implementing a two-foot clean fill cover, establishing land use restrictions and developing a risk mitigation plan to ensure the safety of the community.

He said contaminated dirt was removed and replaced.

“We had a gentleman donate a B&O Railroad caboose that now is up in Sugar Creek at the Age of Steam Roundhouse being restored, and it will be coming down this spring and be on display for the community to enjoy,” Mowrer said.

Mowrer said it is incredibly important to preserve the history of the Great Stone Viaduct.

“We’re ​​celebrating history because this was one of the first bridges across the river, the B&O Railroad was one of the first routes to Chicago, which helped open up the West,” Mowrer said. “Prior to the viaduct being built, they used to have to load railroad cars on ferries and bring them over from Benwood to Bellaire and then put them back on the railroad tracks.”

The bridge, he said, was a gateway to the west.

Constructed in 1871 and added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1976, it served as a western approach to the B&O Railroad Bridge across the Ohio River.

Ohio EPA Ohio Brownfield Development and Voluntary Action Program project coordinator Shelby Powell said the Great Stone Viaduct Education Society earned the award for its incredible work in transforming the historic viaduct.

“The Ohio EPA supported the project through environmental assessments over several years, which helped leverage nearly half a million dollars in cleanup funding through the Ohio Department of Development,” Powell said. “It’s really a great example of how local vision and state support can come together to create something lasting for the community.”

Ohio EPA Ohio Brownfield Development and Voluntary Action Program supervisor Corin Fogle added that the society embodies why the award was created, to showcase redevelopment in the state of Ohio.

Belmont County Land Reutilization Corporation chairperson and Belmont County Treasurer Kathy Kelich was the driving force behind the society receiving the grant money. Kelich contacted the Ohio Department of Development and applied for the grant on behalf of the society.

She said that her passion for the Great Stone Viaduct is due to her love in preserving history in Belmont County.

“We need to make sure that people see the history, because younger generations don’t know what was here. We’re older, so we know what was here, but we can’t show the younger generations unless we keep things like this going and the Historical Society has done a fantastic job on getting this done,” Kelich said.