What's next for Burlington's Moran Plant?

We are digging deeper into ongoing work at the Moran Plant in Burlington. We told you Wednesday that an environmental assessment is underway to determine what kinds of contaminants there are in the defunct power plant. Thursday, our Cat Viglienzoni went to the city for answers on what happens next.

"Very exciting times for the Moran Plant," said Luke McGowan, the director of the Community and Economic Development Office.

McGowan says after 30 years of sitting defunct on the otherwise picturesque waterfront, Moran is on the way to getting an overhaul. Contractors hired by the city of Burlington are in there now doing an environmental study that McGowan says should be ready by the end of fall.

Once they know what contaminants are there and how structurally sound it is, then they can begin construction. The clock is ticking on that because the city has to send the project out to bond by the end of the year.

"We are on track to meet that deadline," McGowan said.

There's no price tag yet to strip Moran into a frame. Voters approved $5.6 million. McGowan says they'll know the cost when the study is done but he says they have to get phase 1 done before they get community input on what goes into the Moran space in phase 2.

"We have had interest. So we know there is interest out in the community," McGowan said. "But even if everyone packed their bags and said we don't want to do anything with Moran, we think the frame concept is really a great use for this area so it preserves that historic great profile and allows future community members to say, 'Actually, I would love to bring X into this building.' So the frame is this platform that really anything can go into."

And he wants skeptical community members to know this time it's for real.

"I can assure you, work is going to be happening," McGowan said.

Through all this, the land remains in city control.