Mayor Ed Pawlowski announced the fate of a former battery plant in Allentown on Wednesday morning. A 50,000 square foot Toyota dealership will be built where the old Exide Battery building used to be on Lehigh Street. The building was levelled in 2007.  Now, some new tenants are moving in, hoping to breathe new life into the old Exide Battery site. WFMZ's Dwayne Parker has the story.  When all is said and done, the project will cost about $20-million to bring these jobs to Allentown. But some say, the new beginning is worth every penny.

DWAYNE PARKER: For Federico Hernandez buying groceries hasn't been easy since he lost his job as a landscaper. 

FEDERICO HERNANDEZ: They gave me layoff ..and when was that... that was last year June 16th and today is March. 

DWAYNE PARKER: Now he's one of many looking forward to the job opportunities coming to the Automile in Allentown. Federico says he would even be willing to try selling cars. 

FEDERICO HERNANDEZ: Sure, selling cars...if they give me the training to do it, I'm not going to be scared to do it. 

DWAYNE PARKER: Today the City announced that with the help of federal funds, Bennett Toyota will be moving to Lehigh Street and creating 50 jobs in the process. The new showroom, along with a bank and other stores, will be built on the site the former Exide Battery plant ... previously contaminated for over 28 years. 

PAWLOWSKI: This is a tremendous day for Allentown, one more brownfield we've been able to take and put into production and reuse. 

DWAYNE PARKER: And just preparing the property for construction was a $4 million dollar project, says Erlinda Aguiar, the City's real estate specialist. 

ERLINDA AGUIAR: You could not resuse the site until all of the issues, environmental issues were resolved and cleaned up, and that costs a lot of money, which is the reason why the site sat ther efor so long without anyone to reuse it. 

DWAYNE PARKER: Now the that the doors of opportunity are returning to Allentown, Federico says he will definitely put in a job application. 

FEDERICO HERNANDEZ: I need to work to support my family. 

DWAYNE PARKER: A need as basic as grocery shopping.
Since the project uses federal funds, officials say 51% of the new jobs created, must go to low-income applicants.

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