Two former service stations are ready to be turned into new and different ventures.

“Friday we got the official letter clearing them all,” Dr. Bill Dingus, executive director of the Lawrence Economic Development Corporation, said.

In July the LEDC bought two closed stations — Jim’s on Marion Pike in Coal Grove and the Rich Oil station at the corner of Lorain and Third streets — with the intent of rehabilitating them into commercial sites.

Earlier this year PetroEnvironmental of Cincinnati razed both sites and tested soil there for pollutants from the underground gasoline storage tanks. All contaminated soil was removed from the site with work on each station taking about a week.

Both sites were owned by Stephanie Jo Barnett. The LEDC paid $75,000 for the Coal Grove station that was appraised at $135,980 and $50,000 for the Ironton station appraised at $51,440.

Before they can go on the market, the sites had to be officially approved by the bureau of underground storage tank regulations that they are free of contaminants.

“They are perfectly clean,” Dingus said. “We are getting a lot of inquiries. They are ready for a thousand and one uses.”