&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-187
May 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Brownfields Success Stories
In Worcester, Working Together to
Restore Former Industrial Land for
Public Use
WORCESTER, MA
ith a diverse history of industry and manufacturing dating
back more than 200 years, the City of Worcester, Massachusetts is
now providing examples of how partnerships between federal, state,
and private entities and the local community can produce results far
beyond what a single organization might expect.
In June 1996, EPA awarded a $200,000 Brownfields Pilot grant to
the Central Massachusetts Economic Development Authority
(CMEDA), an organization established one year earlier by the state
to oversee the area's brownfields efforts. In addition to funding
environmental assessments that help return idle properties to use—
including a former foundry site now being redeveloped into a Marriott
hotel—the Brownfields Pilot has helped CMEDA form partnerships
to leverage millions to restore an abandoned mill property into natu-
ral, recreational greenspace. A key outcome of this effort will be a
unique museum that celebrates the rich industrial history of Worcester.
Beginning in January 1999, the City of Worcester, with assistance
from CMEDA, has held meetings that include community represen-
tatives, the state Department of Environmental Management (DEM),
the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Commis-
cont.
JUSTTHE FACTS:
• The Central Massachusetts Economic
Development Authority (CMEDA) was
established by the state to oversee the area's
brownfields efforts.
• In addition to environmental assessments, the
Brownfields Pilot has helped form CMEDA
partnerships to leverage millions to restore an
abandoned mill site into recreational greenspace.
• The Massachusetts Highway Department will
eventually contribute as much as $4 million to
construct vehicle and pedestrian bridges,
parking areas, bike paths, and for landscaping.
An area encompassing
several former industrial
properties including the former
Wire Works site will enjoy 40
miles of new bike paths, new
walkways across restored
greenspace, and tourist
kiosks describing the history
of the Blackstone Canal.
ERA'S Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in
economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A
brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA
is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to
test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for
residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in
the environmental field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities,
and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site
assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
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sion (BRVNHCC), Preservation Worcester, the Worcester Historical Museum,
and the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Comprising the new "Visitors
Center Task Force," this group is working to transform a selection of former
industrial properties—most notably, the abandoned, former Quinsigamond
(Indian for Worcester) Wire Works site—into a visitors center with a
History of the Industrial Revolution theme, and an environmental train-
ing center that will cover the spectrum of HAZMAT prevention and
cleanup.
Funding for this transformation, while not fully in place, is coming from
a variety of sources. EPA's Brownfields Pilot helped leverage $50,000
for initial assessments of the area. The Massachusetts Highway Depart-
ment purchased the targeted sites, and will eventually contribute as much
as $4 million to construct vehicle and pedestrian bridges, parking areas, and
bike paths, and for landscaping around the visitor's center. The state DEM con-
tributed $500K toward development of educational stations that will be placed through-
out the restored greenspace. The BRVNHCC has contributed nearly $260,000, with $1
million in additional funds budgeted. And a Brownfields Fund established by the state and
managed by the Massachusetts Development office could provide additional assessment
and cleanup funding for the project.
When the goals of the Visitors Center Task Force are met, the area will enjoy 40 miles of
new bike paths, new walkways stretching across nearly 30 acres of restored greenspace,
and tourist kiosks describing the history of the Blackstone Canal. A 70,000-square-foot
building on the former Wire Works site remains in excellent condition, and will be used to
house the new visitor's center, the environmental training facility, and concession stands
for tourists. A bike shop is also under consideration for the building, to support the new
bike paths planned for the area.
CONTACTS:
City of Worcester
(508)799-1880
U.S. EPA-Region 1
(617)918-1210
Visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Brownfields Success Story
May 2000
Worcester, MA
EPA 500-F-00-187
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