Reinventing the Attleboro Dye Works

Translating a Long History in Manufacturing into Sustainable Design for the Future in Seekonk,
Massachusetts

Project Summary

Community: Seekonk, Massachusetts
Technical Assistance: Site Reuse Plan
Former Use: Attleboro Dye Works
Future Use: Sustainable Office Space

In 2019, the Town of Seekonk, Massachusetts purchased
the site of the former Attleboro Dye Works along the Ten
Mile River near the northwest corner of town with the plan
to remediate and reuse the 7.8-acre former industrial
property, which has sat vacant since 2009. There are
several environmental concerns on site resulting from past
industrial uses and remediation activities are ongoing.

The Community's Opportunity

The site is in close proximity to established residential
neighborhoods. The town is interested in redeveloping the
2.5-acre former building footprint into a modern,
neighborhood-appropriate use and the remaining 5.3
acres of the property into a combination of open space
and walking trails to take advantage of its location next to
the Ten Mile River and the adjacent woodlands and
wetlands.

EPA's Land Revitalization Technical Assistance

The town received a fiscal year 2022 technical assistance
grant from MassDevelopment to perform an initial reuse
study of the property, with the goal of identifying a range of
redevelopment options. This grant resulted in the Maple
Avenue on the Ten Mile River report, completed in June
2022. Following this study, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) Land Revitalization Program
provided contractor technical assistance to build upon the
recommendations and provide additional detail on the
potential reuses to bring the site closer to redevelopment.
The Reuse Plan included a site visit, discussions with
municipal staff, significant refinement of the
redevelopment scenarios put forth in the Maple Avenue on
the Ten Mile River report, creation of a fourth preferred
redevelopment scenario, a site plan and renderings for this
new scenario, coupled with build-out analyses, and level-
of-magnitude costs.

This fourth redevelopment alternative seeks to take
advantage of the site's proximity to the Ten Mile River and
represents a less-intensive land use than the other three
scenarios. This fourth alternative may prove more
favorable with respect to the history of the land and to
compatibility with the surrounding residential
neighborhood. From this Reuse Plan, the town will be
equipped to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) to
procure developers and design teams in implementing one
of the redevelopment options. EPA technical assistance
support contributed to the Town winning a $350,000 site
specific assessment grant and a $500,000 cleanup grant.

Environmental Center/Sustainable Office Development
Alternative

For more information, contact AmyJean McKeown, EPA
Region 1, at mckeown.amviean@epa.gov or Jessica
Dominguez, EPA Region 1, at

dominquez.iessica@epa.gov.

*>EPA

United States	Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization

Environmental Protection

Agency	560-F-23-310


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