The tract of property that runs along Lakeshore Boulevard north of what’s known as the Triangle Park has been called the nicest piece of land in the city of Marquette that people can never use. In fact, local wags used to muse the Cliffs-Dow acreage — originally there were 77 with 46 remaining, after sales — was so contaminated from industrial use, even the crows packed lunches to fly over it.

We’d call that an overstatement but the point is taken: the location, once a hub of activity during a time when burying your pollution problems was common, probably will never be a good place to locate a community garden. But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be utilized for a whole host of other very valid purposes.

City decision makers have apparently come to that same conclusion and are now seeking requests for qualifications, which requires, among other things, statements of interest from developers, including demonstrations of their ability to complete the project.

It can be viewed as a prequalification tool used by entities — the city, in this case — that are in the process of potentially collecting bids for a project. These documents are sometimes distributed before the more detailed, and familiar, requests for proposals.

According to a recent Mining Journal story, in the early 1900s, Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company developed the property and produced pig iron at the site for about 30 years. The Dow Chemical Company joined with the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, forming Cliffs-Dow Chemical Company in April 1935. Charcoal and wood chemical derivatives were produced until the property was sold to Georgia-Pacific in 1968,

Nothing much happened at the site until the city purchased about 77 acres of the tract in 1997 for $1 and sold off parcels on the north and south ends, leaving the current 46 acres.

City Planner Dennis Stachewicz said Cliffs-Dow has been identified as a mixed-use site. The Journal story stated the property is also part of an existing brownfield project and it’s likely the city and future investors would seek to amend the plan to include relocating Lakeshore Boulevard west. The estimated cost of that project is around $11 million.

While the city is far from accepting formal RFPs, and the presence of chemical contamination will limit what can ultimately be done with the site, the fact that these small steps are being taken must be viewed as a very good thing.

We’re betting once the paperwork gets ironed out, the city will have more than its share of suitors interested in developing Cliffs- Dow.