Nobody builds on a former refinery without asking what is in the dirt, and at Platte River Commons that question is part of every scope we write. The Commons is the old Amoco, now BP, refinery property about two miles southwest of downtown. The refinery opened in 1895 and ran until the last barrel was refined in 1991, and a citizen pollution lawsuit led BP and the State of Wyoming to sign a remedy agreement in 2002. The site is still recovering from contamination, so any owner here is buying land with a documented past.
We build on brownfield ground by treating the environmental record as a design input. That means reading the remedy documents, mapping where the controls sit, planning excavation so soil stays where it belongs and sizing foundations, vapor barriers and utility trenches to match. Done in that order, a project here proceeds without surprises. Done in the other order, it stalls.
What the Commons offers in return is room: a large redevelopment area with business space, recreation and river frontage close to the center of the city.
Three categories of site condition come up on this ground. First, controls placed under the remedy, such as caps, restrictions on digging or limits on groundwater use. We ask the owner and the oversight parties for those documents before we price anything. Second, buried legacy items: old foundations, abandoned lines, tank bases and fill of mixed quality. Third, the ordinary things any Casper site has, such as frost, wind and snow load.
We write contingency into a Commons budget as a separate, visible line, not buried in unit prices. If a trench turns up something unexpected, the work stops in that area, the owner and the right consultant are notified and the schedule moves to other fronts so the crew keeps working. Our approach to demolition and sitework on legacy ground is to expose, document and then decide.
Building on a remediated site means two sets of rules operate at once. The first is the ordinary one. The City of Casper lists the 2024 International Codes with local amendments in Title 15 of its municipal code, and its commercial permits often require a life-safety plan, engineered drawings and Planning/Zoning approval, with plan review that covers structural calculations, engineering reports and specifications.
The second set comes from the cleanup. Remedy agreements, joint powers oversight and any recorded restrictions may govern excavation, dewatering, utility corridors and the placement of buildings. The Amoco Reuse Agreement Joint Powers Board was created under a 1998 agreement between the City of Casper and Natrona County to oversee redevelopment, so a project here should talk to it early. We bring both sets of requirements into one submittal checklist so nothing is discovered after a permit is issued.
Platte River Commons is a redevelopment story told in dollars and acres. Amoco closed the refinery in 1991, eliminating hundreds of jobs. BP pledged more than $28 million toward replacing those jobs, all of it received by the joint powers board, a public body whose redevelopment goals matter to any public sector partner. The former tank farm is now the Salt Creek Heights Business Center, and in April 2019 a proposal floated a field house on a 10 acre site in the western part of the Commons.
As a builder, we read that history as a market signal. The Commons has been planned for decades but built in pieces, and it responds to what the economy will support: business space when employers are hiring, recreation and event space when the community wants them. We help owners decide what to build now and what to leave room for. If you are comparing the Commons to a different part of the metro, the downtown core and the East Casper refinery area suit different uses and budgets.
We start a Commons project with a records review and a site walk, then a short written summary of what we know, what we don't and what we recommend testing. Our preconstruction estimating gives the owner a range that reflects the unknowns, then narrows as testing and design fill the gaps.
During construction, we use clean-and-dirty zones, wheel washing where needed and documented soil handling. Daily logs record what was excavated and where it went. Owners and lenders appreciate that paper trail, and it protects them if a question arises later. We are not an environmental consultant, and we bring one in when the work calls for it, but we know how to build in a way that supports their findings.
The Commons supports several uses. Business-center buildings like those on the former tank farm site suit offices, light industrial and service tenants, and we build them in flex-style forms that can change use. A sports or recreation complex, the sort of field house proposed in 2019, needs long clear spans, large mechanical systems and parking, and we handle office buildings and mixed-use space for the commercial side of the district.
The area also includes a golf course, wildlife viewing areas and the Casper Whitewater Park, a half-mile stretch of the North Platte with four artificial rock structures, along with a trail system. The Platte River Trail runs about 10 miles of paved pathway from Paradise Valley Park to Bryan Stock Trail at the North Casper Sports Complex, passing Amoco Park. Buildings near the river and trail should respect those public edges, and we plan staging so construction does not close access any longer than necessary.
Send the parcel number and anything you have on its history. We will review it, tell you what to test and give you a range that reflects what we know and what is still open.
It can be, with the right planning. The refinery ran from 1895 to 1991, a remedy agreement was signed in 2002 and the site is still recovering from contamination. We review the remedy documents, plan excavation and foundations around them and bring in environmental consultants when the work calls for it.
The Amoco Reuse Agreement Joint Powers Board was created by a 1998 agreement with the City of Casper and Natrona County to oversee redevelopment. Owners should talk to it early, in parallel with the city's permit process. We help assemble the submittals for both.
We stop work in that area, protect the site and notify you and the right consultant. The crew moves to other fronts so the schedule does not stall entirely. We carry a visible contingency line on any Commons budget for this reason.
Business-center buildings, flex and light industrial space, recreation facilities and mixed commercial uses are all in the area's mix. The former tank farm is now the Salt Creek Heights Business Center, and a field house was proposed for a 10 acre site in 2019. We will tell you how the program fits the ground.
It might, depending on the parcel. The Platte River Trail runs about 10 miles of paved pathway through the area. We plan staging, haul routes and fencing to keep the trail open or to close it only for short, announced periods.