[CPEO-BIF] Central Massachusetts: Old economy built on the new

["Hersh, Robert" <hersh@WPI.EDU>]

Reclaiming land pays off for cities

Worcester Telegram & Gazette
By Matthew Bruun 
4/10/07
Worcester, MA

On the edge of the Nashua River in Fitchburg, the decaying, asbestos-riddled
husk of the former Hope Rubber warehouse had turned into a hangout for
vagrants. The building was destroyed in a fire five years ago and its rubble
blighted the landscape for months. 

"That was a disastrous site," Fitchburg Mayor Dan H. Mylott said. 

Today the former eyesore has been reborn as the Riverfront Park, 3.5 acres of
green space that is host to community events each summer and part of
Fitchburg's long-term economic revitalization plan. 

When General Electric pulled out of Fitchburg in 1998, hundreds of local jobs
were lost and the city was looking at a major environmental hazard. But the
company agreed to spend more than $10 million cleaning up the site, and the
plant has been reinvented as Putnam Place - office space that is home to the
city's redevelopment authority. 

The sites were both brownfields, areas contaminated by prior industrial use
that city leaders worked to bring back to life. 

There is no official list of such sites statewide, according to the
Department of Environmental Protection, as the definition of brownfields can
be subjective. But by many estimates there are thousands across
Massachusetts, as small as former gas stations and as large as sprawling
mills. 

And while addressing their environmental hazards can be costly, experts say
they represent opportunities for developers and communities looking to
transform eyesores into economic engines. 

In Worcester, a major feature of the urban landscape as motorists exit
Interstate 290 to head downtown is the sprawling Gateway Park. The former
industrial site's renaissance includes Worcester Polytechnic Institute's new
Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center. 

David P. Forsberg, president of the Worcester Business Development Corp.,
said private investment from his group and WPI was augmented by state funds
including low-interest loans and grants worth millions of dollars. 

"We have used every arrow in the state's brownfields quiver," Mr. Forsberg
said. "The state's been terrific." 

The partnership will yield a major boon to the city, he said, describing
800,000 square feet of tax-generating space where an environmental hazard
once stood. 

"It's kind of the new economy being built on top of the old," Mr. Forsberg
said. 

Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray said brownfields reclamation was a major issue
during his tenure as mayor of Worcester and remains a priority for the
administration of Gov. Deval L. Patrick.

For the entire article, see:
<<http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070410/NEWS/704100394/
1116>>

Bob Hersh
CPEO

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