Market Square project awarded cleanup grants
WOONSOCKET — Into the heart of architectual blight and the toxic residue of New England’s industrial past, brownfields grants go where no other federal grants dare, says Department of Environmental Management Director Janet Coit.
And so they did, as Coit and Regional Acting Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Deb Szaro announced the award of $600,000 in cleanup money for NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley’s $23 million Mill Race District project in Market Square.
The award represents two grants all, including $200,000 to clean up 15 Island Place, a ramshackle, turn-of-the-century machine shop that once manufactured parts for horsedrawn carriages, and $400,000 for 68 South Main St., the original home of the Woonsocket Rubber Company and the Falls Yarn Mills. The environmental officials say the grants are critical seed money NeighborWorks needs to transform those seen-better-days factory buildings into a thriving mixed-use complex featuring artists’ lofts, retail and affordable housing.
“What I like about brownfields is that it creates opportunities to get that done,” Szaro said during a press briefing adjacent to the mill sites Tuesday. “We are so thrilled to provide the spark of money that will lead to cleanup and redevelopment here.”
Previously dubbed ArTech Hub, the project was recently rechristened the Mill Race District in honor of a unique aqueduct-like structure on the site that once channeled water from the nearby Blackstone River to power the mills.
One of three buildings in the Mill Race District project has already been finished – the restoration of the former Mulvey’s Hardware – which now includes an incubator
kitchen for food-related small business startups, affordable apartments and public event space – some of it indoors, plus a patio for farmer’s markets and other gatherings.
Szaro said competition for brownfields grants is fierce. The fact that NeighborWorks qualified for all three of the available cleanup grants in the state during the current funding cycle, she said, is a testament to the nonprofit redevelopment organization’s standard of excellence.
Garlick said he was thrilled by the receipt of the grants, likening it to a kind of yeast that will help NeighborWorks assemble a multimillion-dollar financing package from multiple sources to complete the Mill Race District.
“This is complicated stuff and it’s expensive, so to get this money at this stage of the game is a big deal,” he said. “We’re hoping this is like the yeast that will help us raise some other money.”
If all goes according to plan, said Garlick, the cleanup of the two mill sites will begin next spring.
Once the home of Island Machine Co., 15 Island Place is a stone and wood mill overlooking the Blackstone River, built in 1880, and vacant at least 20 years, according to Garlick. The last he knew, a couple of artists were squatting there in hopes of acquring the mill, but their plans fell through.
The other site, 68 South Main St., is a 50,000-squarefoot brick structure, parts of which date back to the 1850s It was most recently known as Le Moulin, a collection of gift and craft shops that was forced to close because the city condemned the site due to structural deficiencies. NeighborWorks acquired it about 18 months ago.
Coit said brownfields are defined as former industrial sites that are contaminated by toxic residue associated with past use, but the grants that take the name are more than mere cleanup dollars.
“We’re also creating something new, an amenity that makes the community more vibrant,” she said. “This is going to be an amazing project.”