The former Firestone site is a brownfield. Does it matter?
The smokestack at the former Firestone plant in the neighborhood of New Chicago has been removed. The facility made its last tire in 1983. (The Daily Memphian files)
Proponents of a plan to move the Shelby County Jail to the former Firestone plant say the site’s status as a brownfield is a positive, but contaminants are present in the soil.
The 71-acre, North Memphis site was once home to the plant that made the most tires in the world, but the facility made its last tire in 1983. The land has been vacant since then.
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Dima Amro
Dima Amro is a native Memphian who covers commercial real estate and economic development for The Daily Memphian. She received her B.A. in journalism at the University of Memphis and M.A. in investigative journalism at American University.
Bill Dries
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.
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