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BROWN FIELDS SUCCESS IN NEW ENGLAND	
Fitchburg, MA: Leveraging EPA Brownfields Grants to Achieve
Community Redevelopment Goals
Introduction
Fitchburg, Massachusetts is an old industrial city with a host of
economic and environmental challenges. Once a vibrant
manufacturing hub, the city, like many others in New England,
has suffered over the past century as industry has moved away,
taking with it the high-paying jobs that fueled the local
economy and leaving poverty; unemployment; and abandoned,
contaminated properties in its wake. After the devastating loss
of the local General Electric (GE) plant in 1998, the city
decided to take action and embark on a comprehensive 20-year
urban renewal plan with ambitious economic development and
community revitalization goals. Since the early days of the
plan's adoption in 2000. EPA Brownfields Grants have played
a critical role in the city's redevelopment efforts, funding
environmental assessments and cleanups that have paved the
way for site reuse and economic growth.
EPA lias provided funding and technical assistance to help
communities assess, cleanup, and redevelop brownfield sites
since 1995. EPA defines a brownfield as a "real property, the
expansion redevelopment, or reuse of which may be
complicated by the presence or potential presence of a
hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant." Annually,
EPA provides grants to public, quasi-public, and non-profit
institutions to fund enviromnental assessments, cleanups, and
job training activities. Fitchburg, which lias received four
assessment grants since 2001. demonstrates the importance of
brownfields assessments to redevelopment efforts. By
identifying the extent and character of any contamination
present, an environmental assessment greatly reduces the risk
associated with a brownfield site, smoothing the path to
redevelopment. Fitchburg has also been able to leverage these
relatively small grants into greater public and private
investments to successfully cleanup and redevelop several key
properties.
FITCHBURG FACTS
Population: 41,000
Challenges:
-	Economy never recovered from loss of industry in 20th
century
-	High rate of poverty and low per capita income
-	Blighted and underutilized downtown
Redevelopment Goals:
-	Create a vibrant main street
-	Encourage more prominent presence for Fitchburg State
University in the downtown
-	Make a safe and stable neighborhood for a diverse
group of people
-	Create spaces for new industrial uses
-	Increase amenities and access to the Nashua River
EPA Brownfields Funding Received:
-	Assessment Grants (4): $ 1,000,000
-	Cleanup Grant: $200,000
Key Redevelopment Successes:
-	Assessed 28 brownfields, 16 of which are in the
redevelopment area
-	Many parcels successfully redeveloped or in the process
of being redeveloped
-	Leveraged EPA Brownfields Grants to secure more than
$12 million in additional federal, state, and private
funds to redevelop 2 brownfields
-	Renewed relationship with local university and several
brownfields being redeveloped for university uses
Discover your future in Fitchburg (photo courtesy of the Fitchburg Historical Society}
August 2011
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Interior of machine shop at GE's Fitchburg plant, 1942
Fitchburg Background: History and Challenges
The City of Fitchburg is located in North Central
Massachusetts, on the banks of the Nashua River. The river's
powerful current offers a natural source of power, which was
harnessed by dams as early as the mid-1700s. After the
construction of a rail line to Boston in 1845, the area
experienced rapid growth, becoming an industrial center with
paper, cotton, and textile mills along with heavier
manufacturing. Wealth from the industrial operations spilled
into the downtown commercial district, creating a vibrant
regional shopping destination full of stately buildings, many of
which remain today.
By the end of the 20th century, industry in Fitchburg began to
decline as mills moved to be closer to raw materials and
cheaper labor, and suburban sprawl drew residents and
businesses away from the downtown core. Although the city's
manufacturing base never fully recovered, it remained an
important part of Fitchburg's economy. One of the largest
employers in the 20th century was GE, which took over an
abandoned Fitchburg facility during the Second World War to
manufacture turbines for naval ships. GE operated the facility
until 1998. When the factory closed, the community lost 600
high-quality jobs with a $30 million annual payroll.
The GE closure was a devastating blow Fitchburg's economy,
reverberating across ancillary economic sectors throughout the
city. The city's economic issues were worsened by the closure
of a local hospital the previous year. At the close of the 20th
century. Fitchburg's struggles were evident in its poverty rate,
which was nearly double the state rate, and its per capita
income, which was only two-thirds of the state's at that time.
The effects of years of decline were also manifested physically.
Downtown Fitchburg was a shell of its former glory, filled with
vacant, trash strewn lots; abandoned and deteriorating
buildings; and brownfield sites. In 2000, 33% of building
square feet in the downtown area was blighted with a
significant number of properties vacant or in tax foreclosure
(Fitchburg Downtown Urban Revitalization and Development
Plan).
Fitchburg's Redevelopment Plan: The Path to a
Better Future
In response to its growing challenges, Fitchburg developed a
comprehensive redevelopment plan in 2000, the largest
downtown revitalization effort in the city's history. The 20-
year plan is "designed to revitalize and stabilize the city's 224-
acre, blighted and underutilized downtown area by creating a
comprehensive strategy to promote redevelopment through
limited public action and major incentives for private
enterprise." Specific objectives include the following.
•	Create a vibrant main street by removing obsolete,
deteriorating buildings, encouraging residential uses
downtown, and attracting more visitors through improved
quality of life.
•	Encourage a more prominent presence for Fitchburg State
University in the downtown area by supporting
institutional expansion and strengthening relationships
with the city.
•	Make a safe and stable neighborhood for a diverse group
of people.
Brownfields in Fitchburg
Redevelopment Area
Assessed with EPA Grants
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August 2011
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•	Create spaces for new industrial uses.
•	Increase amenities and access to the Nashua River to draw
people and businesses to the downtown.
By meeting these objectives, Fitchburg hopes to attract private
investment, create jobs, and become a more desirable place to
live, work, and visit.
Role of EPA Brownfields Grants in Fitchhurg's
Redevelopment
Given the large number of brownfield properties in Fitchburg's
redevelopment area, grant funding from the EPA Brownfields
Program has been critical in helping the city implement its
urban renewal plan. Fitchburg received its first Brownfields
Assessment Grant in 2001. With this initial $200,000 grant, the
city assessed eight properties, all within the redevelopment
area. Later grants awarded to the Fitchburg Redevelopment
Authority (FRA) in 2003, 2005, and 2007 were used to
continue assessment of these properties and assess additional
properties in the redevelopment area. EPA funds were also
used to assess critical properties in other parts of Fitchburg
such as:
•	Coolidge Park: the most used greenspace in Fitchburg and
thus a priority to keep clean,
•	The Central Steam Plant, an old power plant adjacent to a
nature trail, and
•	A former auto body shop in a depressed residential area.
The property is being cleaned up and converted into
affordable housing through a joint effort with the Twin
Cities Community Development Corporation's Elm Street
Initiative, helping to bring a distressed neighborhood back
to life.
Many of the urban renewal area properties assessed with EPA
grant funding have been successfully redeveloped, helping to
revitalize Fitchburg's economy and urban center, or positioned
for redevelopment in keeping with the objectives of the
redevelopment plan. For example:
Riverfront Park
The Hope Rubber factory used to stand on the banks of the
Nashua River in the heart of downtown Fitchburg. The factory
closed in the 1990s, and a subsequent fire reduced the building
I Clockwise from upper left:
Coolidge Park, Central
I Steam Plant, site of new
I affordable housing on Elm
I Street
to a pile of rubble. The site was an eyesore and liability given
the unknown level of environmental contamination. Funded
through the 2001 and 2003 EPA grants, the Phase I and Phase
II Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs) initiated the
redevelopment process. After the assessments were complete
the city was able to leverage other funding sources, such as a
$825,000 Urban Self Help Grant from the Massachusetts
Executive Office of Energy' and Environmental Affairs, to
complete the site cleanup and redevelopment as a public park.
The design and construction process of the new park was a
collaborative effort that included citizens, local business
leaders, the city and its redevelopment authority, and federal
agencies. In 2003 the 1.6-acre waterfront park opened. The
park features a promenade, benches, and open lawn and is the
setting for annual events such as the Fitchburg Forge-In
Blacksmith Festival and the Nashua River Brewers Festival.
The Hope Rubber redevelopment project helps Fitchburg
achieve several specific objectives of its plan including
improving access to the river and enhancing quality of life in
the downtown.
Putnam Place
EPA grant funding lias also been used to assess contamination
at the old GE factory, a property specifically called out in the
redevelopment plan for reuse. The FRA leveraged a suite of
public and private funds to complete the rehabilitation,
including:
•	A $6 million Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) Section 108 loan
•	Two $1 million Economic Development Administration
(EDA) loans,
•	A $1.3 million Massachusetts Opportunity Relocation and
Expansion (MORE) Jobs grant,
•	A $500,000 Community Development Action Grant
(CD AG) to construct a new truck entrance,
•	A $600,000 CD AG for a new tenant fit-out,
•	A $1.3 million private loan from Rollstone Bank for a
tenant fit-out. and
•	Urban renewal funds.
Riverfront Park
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The entire complex lias been renamed Putnam Place and
features office space and a gas turbine testing facility—one of
three in the country, which has retained over 180 high-quality
jobs. To support these uses one factory building will be torn
down and replaced with a parking lot.
150 Main Street
Another brownfield site in Fitchburg's redevelopment area lias
been converted into a new transit hub for the Montachusett
Regional Transit Authority (MART). Formerly a dilapidated,
substandard retail and office building, the new complex
includes a bus depot, commuter rail station commercial and
retail space, and a parking garage. The project enhances
Fitchburg's attractiveness to commuters and provides the
parking necessary to attract people and businesses to the
downtown.
26 Willow Street
The site of an old sawmill, 26 Willow Street is in the process of
being redeveloped as privately owned student housing. EPA
Brownfields grants have been used to fund Phase I, Phase II,
and supplemental assessments to initiate the privately funded
redevelopment process. The completed project will rehabilitate
a blighted, deteriorating structure in the heart of Fitchburg,
provide tax income for the city, and bring students to the
downtown.
Sawyer Pas sway
Fitchburg's redevelopment plan calls for industrial growth in
the Sawyer Passway area of downtown. A series of
assessments funded by EPA Brownfields grants have been
conducted on several parcels along the corridor, paving the
way for its reuse.
North Street Corridor
North Street is a major thoroughfare in downtown Fitchburg
that leads to Fitchburg State University with underutilized real

I Intermodal Transportation
Center at 150 Main Street
estate. The FRA has been working with the university to
redevelop a section of North Street to become a formal
gateway to the campus. This effort lias involved assembly of
parcels and EPA-funded assessments, which have cleared the
way for construction. The enhanced entrance will bring the
university physically closer to the downtown and symbolically
strengthen ties between the institution and the city, helping
meet a key objective of the urban renewal plan.
Summary
The City of Fitchburg is over halfway through the
implementation of its 20-year urban renewal plan and lias made
considerable progress towards meeting the plan's objectives.
Since 2000, over $185 million in public and private funds have
been invested in more than 30 projects. Many of these projects
are brownfields, and grants from the EPA Brownfields
Program have helped initiate their successful cleanup and
reuse. Fitchburg's redevelopment efforts have created over 250
new jobs, cleaned up and increased access to the Nashua River,
created new residential and industrial opportunities, and
strengthened the presence of Fitchburg State University
downtown. The city is poised to build on the momentum
generated from these successes to realize its urban
revitalization vision.
Top: Future site of
student housing at 26
Willow Street
Bottom: Future gateway
to Fitchburg State
University at North Street
CONTACTS
Jennifer Hines, Fitchburg Redevelopment Authority
(978) 345-9602 • jhines@netlplus.com
www.DiscoverFitchburg.com
EPA New England Brownfields Program
http://www.epa.gov/regionl /brownfields/index.html
August 2011
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