Brownfields Redevelopment Fund Cleans Up Key Site in Plymouth’s Town Brook Restoration

January 22, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Kelsey Abbruzzese, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 617-448-9077 (cell)
kabbruzzese@massdevelopment.com
David Gould, Town of Plymouth, 508-747-1620 ext. 134
DGould@townhall.plymouth.ma.us

MassDevelopment has provided a $453,060 grant from the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund to the Town of Plymouth to clean a key site in its Town Brook restoration project, which will connect Plymouth Harbor and downtown Plymouth through a park and trail system along the Town Brook. Specifically, the Town used the grant to demolish the coal storage building at 82-84 Billington Street and remediate the former Plymco site, which had an industrial history dating to the late 1700s. With the remediation now complete, the Town will remove a dam on the property to restore water flow to the Town Brook this fall.

“The Town Brook restoration project exemplifies how the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund can break the environmental logjam keeping a challenging site from productive use,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. “We're proud to provide grants like this one to spur economic and environmental transformation across the Commonwealth. Unfortunately, the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund is fully committed and unable to fund new requests, a situation we hope will be rectified soon.”

The trail system that will follow the restored Town Brook will be about 1.5 miles, passing by historic sites such as Pilgrim Memorial State Park, Watson's Hill, and Jenny Grist Mill. Pilgrim Memorial State Park attracts about one million visitors a year to Plymouth. These trails will enhance the tourism industry in Plymouth, providing opportunities for hiking, biking, and enjoying natural resources. Financing for this project also came from the Town of Plymouth, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration, and American Rivers.

“Without the funding from MassDevelopment, the site cleanup and subsequent dam removal and aquatic restoration work at the former Plymco site would not have been possible,” said Plymouth Town Manager Melissa Arrighi. “The funds will allow for the continued development of the greenway along historic Town Brook thereby enhancing the open space and tourism goals of the Town of Plymouth.”

Established by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1998 to encourage development in economically-distressed areas by providing loans and grants for environmental site assessments and cleanup, the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund has made 630 individual awards totaling nearly $79 million. Over the last six full fiscal years, the Fund has supported the creation of more than 2,600 jobs; more than 2,600 units of affordable housing; and more than 1,300 units of market-rate housing.

MassDevelopment, the state's finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2013, MassDevelopment financed or managed 350 projects generating investment of more than $2.4 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create more than 7,000 jobs and build or rehabilitate 800 residential units.