The Port of Toledo, the largest land mass seaport on the Great
Lakes, offers the advantages of a full service seaport and an
inland distribution centre all in one location. The Port of Toledo
contains transloading facilities, warehousing, a foreign trade zone,
and shovel ready sites for development. These assets provide
access to domestic and international markets through
unsurpassed rail, marine, air, pipeline and interstate connections.
The Port of Toledo is home to 16 terminal operators
including: ADM Grain Company; Arc Terminals Holdings; Arms
Trucking; BP-Husky Refining LLC; CSX; Hansen Mueller
Company; IRONHEAD Marine Inc.; Kraft Foods; Kuhlman
Corporation; Lafarge Cement; Midwest Terminals of Toledo
International; Seneca Petroleum Company; Shelly Liquid Division;
St. Marys Cement Inc.; Sunoco MidAmerica M&R; and The
Andersons.
Recent news at the Port of Toledo includes the acquisition of
two new Liebherr mobile harbour cranes set to arrive this
summer. These cranes are a first for Great Lakes ports and will
revolutionize Port of Toledo operations and greatly increase the
productivity to its customers. Each crane has the ability to move
up to 35 containers per hour and up to 40 swings per hour for
bulk material handling. Advancements such as these cranes will
continue to ensure that the Port of Toledo leads the regional
maritime industry in tonnage throughput. Mobile harbour
cranes of this calibre are utilized at coastal ports but are rare at
major ports on the Great Lakes. The funding for the purchase of
the cranes comes from American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act resources.
Additionally, the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority
accepted a $2 million revitalization grant for the redevelopment
of the Beazer Property, a former coke production facility located
on the Maumee River. On 20 November last year, the Port
Authority was notified that it had been awarded a $2 million
Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund (CORF) grant from the State of
Ohio to complete the remaining environmental remediation and
demolition activities at the site.
The Port Authority anticipates that the site has the potential
to create hundreds of new manufacturing and seaport jobs once
the remediation and development is complete. This 33-acre
property offers redevelopment opportunities to combine large
scale manufacturing and shipping to help avoid the difficulties of
moving oversized loads. Possible end users include agricultural,
alternative energy markets, automotive, plastics, glass, and other
manufacturing markets. The Port Authority purchased this
property in 2004 for $900,000 to facilitate the land clean-up and
to incorporate this valuable property into its seaport operations.
In addition to the $2 million CORF grant, a 40% match —
$1,383,632 — has been committed to the property’s
redevelopment in funds provided to the Port Authority through
a Housing and Urban Development Economic Development
Initiative grant and an Ohio Department of Development Shovel
Ready grant.
“This project is an excellent example of local, state and
federal political subdivisions bringing resources together to
redevelop a former brownfield,” said Paul Toth, President and
CEO of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. “We were able
to bring forward a collaborative top notch proposal that —
once completed — will present excellent job opportunities for
the region into the future.”
The property is adjacent to the Port Authority’s 181-acre
Ironville Docks Development. Ironville Docks is undergoing a
massive transformation following an $18 million public-private
partnership investment in new rail lines, seaport improvements
and other developments funded in part by a $5 million State of
Ohio Job Ready Sites grant. Both Ironville Docks and the
former Beazer property will be utilized by companies with
business models that include needs for marine commerce and
both properties are currently being marketed to prospective
tenants.