Brownfields
Success Story
EPA Grant Recipient:
City of Brockton, Mass.
Grant Types:
Assessment,
Cleanup
Current Use:
Community Park
Charles Tartagl ia Park
Brockton, Mass.
A one-acre parcel that once hosted a gas station, factory and auto repair
shop has been cleaned and turned into a community park that was later
dedicated to one of Brockton's local heroes. This park at the corner of
Warren Avenue and Bartlett Street now bears the name of city icon
Charles Tartaglia, a restauranteur with a long history of giving back to his
community.
Dating back to 1915, the former home of the Gilbert Gas Pump filling
station later became the Ralsco kitchen cabinet manufacturing facility and
later hosted several auto repair shops. The site's 100-year industrial
history left the property contaminated with, petroleum, hydraulic fluids
and lead. EPA's Brownfields program was instrumental in helping the city
address the contamination and ultimately make a community park
possible.
Tartaglia's close connection to the Brockton community began as a young
boy delivering The Enterprise newspaper. Later in adulthood, Tartaglia
preserved the legacy of his childhood friend and boxing legend Rocky
Marciano and served in many roles for the city of Brockton and
community organizations. He was a trustee for Massasoit Community
College, volunteer for the local public TV station, member of the Brockton
Park Commission, city councilor from 1990 to 1991, and for over 17 years
the deputy boxing commissioner of Massachusetts. Over the decades, his
family restaurant donated food to city events.
Priming the Property for Redevelopment
The city took over this long abandoned industrial site in 1999, setting the
stage for environmental assessment work to begin in 2001. The city used
$3,000 of EPA funding for Brownfields to evaluate the severity of the
contamination. EPA then awarded Brockton $100,000 in 2003 to clean the
site. The city used the Brownfields cleanup grant to remove 100 cubic yards
of contaminated soil and backfill the area with clean soil.
With the former industrial structures demolished and a newly clean parcel,
the community rallied to convert the property into a park and provide green
space that would help alleviate flooding in the area. In 2014, partners
leveraged $280,000 in state and local funding through the National Park
Service/MA DEP Neighborhood Park Conservation Fund and the City's
Redevelopment Authority to create that new park.
SERA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
"Opportunity Zones: helping to bring
investment to distressed communities"
Figure 1 - Credits: City of Brockton
Former Uses:
Factory and Repair Shop
Figure 2 - Credits: City of Brockton

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BROCKTON
L CARPFKTer
Figure 3 - Credits: City of Brockton
Today
Instead of a blighted and vacant property, the site has been revitalized as a
public park, with flowers and trees, benches, walkways and open green
space. The picture was complete when Charles Tartaglia was honored at the
ribbon cutting for the Charles Tartaglia Park in the spring of 2017.
Figure 4 - Credits: City of Brockton
"Tartaglia Park is a
great investment that
creates a passive
open space in an
underserved area. It
also provides access
to Salisbury Brook as
part of our Two
Rivers plan to create
an asset out of a long-
neglected waterway."
Rob May, Director
Planning and Economic Development
City of Brockton, Mass.
For more information:
Visit the EPA Brownfields website at
www.epa.gov/browrifields or contact
Alan Peterson at 617-918-1022 or
peterson.alan@epa.gov.
EPA 560-F-19-214
November 2019

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