After several years and millions of dollars in federal and city funds, the environmental clean up of the former Gorham Company site in Providence’s West End is nearly completed. John Palmieri, director of the Providence Department of Planning and Development, said last week that “within the next three or four months [the city will] be in a position to execute a lease agreement with the developer,” Churchill & Banks Ltd. of Providence.
That means Churchill & Banks, which plans to create 250,000 square-feet of gross leasable retail space and parking, including a Stop & Shop, at the site of the former jewelry manufacturer, will have “permission to construct their development,” Palmieri said. “We’re getting closer, now.”
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City workers completed the last bits of demolition on the environmentally damaged property – a 37-acre industrial area between Adelaide Avenue and Mashapaug Pond and a designated Brownfields site – about two months ago, Palmieri said. The city purchased the site seven years ago from the State Court Receivership in lieu of back taxes.
The 20 land-acres are now completely graded, except for a few areas of rubble, piled lumber, cement blocks and some errant weeds.
Originally the demolition to remove 42 structures and hazardous materials from the plant was expected to make the property ready for construction in March 1999.
“It’s taken longer than we would have liked,” Palmieri said, adding that “the developer of course has been anxious” – anxious, but understanding. “It’s a tainted site.”
Richard Baccari, owner of Churchill & Banks, was out of town and could not be reached for comment.
Providence has spent nearly $2 million in city resources restoring the Gorham site, Palmieri said, as well as an $864,000 grant from the federal Economic Development Administration.
It was the city’s job to remove the buildings, but cleaning up environmental hazards was Textron’s responsibility. Gorham is now part of Textron, Inc.’s extended corporate family. Hazards on the site included asbestos, underground oil storage tanks, cleaning fluids and arsenic, Palmieri said.
A FLAT, GRADED SURFACE where once there were Gorham buildings.
Textron hired the national environmental engineering consultant, Harding Lawson Associates, to conduct a human health and ecological risk assessment work plan. Officials from the state Department of Environmental Management reviewed the plan last year, taking special care, Palmieri said, “especially because of the nature of this stuff as a Brownfields site.” Their conclusion was that the site was “substantially acceptable with a few outstanding issues” that still needed to be remediated.
Providence Deputy Planner Joseph Abbate said last week that issues still to be worked out include construction of a retaining wall, whether to remove certain soil areas from the site or cap them, and whether to continuously pump or treat groundwater or have the area routinely monitored. But “the plan, in effect, has been approved by DEM,” Abbate said.
Another concern, Palmieri said, is “to protect the area” around Mashapaug Pond. The city has also earmarked bond money to create a “passive recreational area” and walkway there. Some properties near the main entrance to the site also had to be condemned, and they also left a couple of old buildings intact, including a 19th century brick carriage house that officials have said could be used for a museum of fire department history.
The Gorham site falls within the Providence/Cranston Enterprise Zone so that future tenants would be eligible for significant tax credits, and tax-paying lenders to such businesses also allowed a 10 percent credit.
Palmieri credited Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. for his foresight in making the “fairly bold move” of reclaiming the property in 1993. “The mayor understands the importance of this tremendous blight on the neighborhood,” Palmieri said. He also credited Textron for being a “tremendous corporate citizen.”
Cianci, who has previously called the Gorham rehabilitation a “long, drawn-out process,” said last week the city has been keeping interested residents of the area abreast of its progress. A trip to the site last week showed that the front yard view for folks on Adelaide Avenue includes a desolated st
retch of dirt, weeds and boulders, surrounded in spots by a rusted chain link fence with a barely legible security sign. Broken glass, strewn plastic bottles, overgrown grass, and flattened cardboard boxes and old tires complete the scene.
The new retail development, Cianci said last week, is “going to be a wonderful addition to that neighborhood,” something that will not only provide jobs and shopping but “pick up spirits of the neighborhood,” especially with the landscaping work around Mashapaug Pond.
Cianci also said progress at the site could have taken much longer, and in some senses it’s surprising the Gorham rehabilitation has gone so well.
“These Brownfields areas are tough sites,” he said.
