Sustainable Reuse—Ensuring that a 

Brownfield’s Reuse Offers the Greatest 

Social, Economic, and Environmental 

Benefit to the Community 

New recreational space on Bridgeport, 

Connecticut’s former Went Field site. 

JUST THE FACTS: 

• Ultimately, sustainable development 

means finding an approach to 

brownfields reuse that offers the most 

significant long-term benefits to the 

local community, taking into account 

environmental, economic, and other 

quality-of-life measures. 

• In one of Bridgeport, Connecticut’s 

poorest neighborhoods, a brownfield 

was transformed into a multi-use 

recreational park with four basketball 

courts, three softball fields, practice 

fields for football and soccer, a 

volleyball court, a fenced playground, 

a pavilion, and an amphitheater. 

• Among Clearwater, Florida’s many 

successful brownfields projects is the 

redevelopment of a former gas station 

into a free health clinic that serves a 

disadvantaged community. 

continued 

EPA’s Brownfields Program is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to 

work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a property, 

the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous 

substance, pollutant, or contaminant. A’s Brownfields Program provides financial and technical assistance for brownfield 

revitalization, including grants for environmental assessment, cleanup, and job training. 

The Value of Sustainable Development 

In the years prior to EPA’s Brownfields Program, communities dealt with 

a steady loss of greenspace as land development crept further outward 

from the urban core. Along with that sprawl came the proliferation of 

abandoned commercial and industrial sites as well as declines in urban 

investment, property taxes, and employment opportunities for city residents. 

Communities across the country were negatively affected by these trends 

in sprawling development. 

While EPA’s Brownfields Program has proven success in returning sites 

to use, having assessed more than 4,300 properties and leveraged more 

than $5 billion in redevelopment funding, the Program has also made 

sustainable development one of its primary goals. 

brownfields, sustainable development does not refer solely to removing 

potentially hazardous contamination and getting a new business located 

on the property. , sustainable development means finding an 

approach to brownfields reuse that offers the most significant long-term 

benefits to the local community, taking into account environmental, 

economic, and other quality-of-life measures. 

Empowering the Community and Benefitting 

Local Residents 

In 1990, Bridgeport, Connecticut, had become one of the poorest and 

most highly taxed cities in the nation, with an estimated 400 brownfields 

detracting from the lives of the city’s residents. No one suffered from this 

bleak situation more than the nearly 39,000 residents of Bridgeport’s 

impoverished West End, an area rife with former industrial sites. 

today, through the efforts of the community and assistance from an EPA 

Brownfields Pilot grant, West End residents enjoy a variety of recreational 

opportunities on what used to be one of those blighted properties. 

One of West End’s brownfields, Went Field, was once the site of Barnum 

Circus’ winter quarters and was used to house a variety of circus animals. 

EP

In the context of restoring 

Ultimately

But 
continued 

The Greenwood Community Health Resource 

Center in Clearwater, Florida. 

More recently, the site had been used by a metals processing company and an engraving/printing business. 

from an EPA Assessment Demonstration Pilot awarded to Bridgeport, and an additional $75,000 from EPA’s Targeted 

Brownfields Assessment Program, revealed toluene and chlorinated solvents in the groundwater. 

Once local residents became aware that this site was being assessed and would be cleaned up for eventual reuse, the 

community became actively involved in the reuse decision process. Ultimately, the community support that emerged 

for Went Field’s restoration came to be considered one of the project’s greatest successes. 

representatives from adjacent Elias Howe Elementary School and Bassick High School, municipal planning, police, 

and park departments, and non-profits like ASPIRA (an organization that supports Latino youth) and Groundworks 

Bridgeport (an organization that supports local redevelopment projects) were among those involved in the planning 

process. 

design charettes, and helped to determine what Went Field’s reuse should be. 

Went Field’s $4.4 million cleanup and redevelopment was funded through city bond funds, a community fundraising 

effort, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the National Park Service, and the State of 

Connecticut’s Departments of Environmental Protection and Community Development. 

been transformed into a multi-use recreational park that features four basketball courts, three softball fields, practice 

fields for football and soccer, track and field elements, a volleyball court, a fenced playground, a pavilion, and an 

amphitheater. 

practice fields for the first time. 

events. Tito Molino, of the West End Community Development Council, expressed that the success of this project 

has been a source of pride for the community. 

Molino explained, “that plants a seed for the future.” 

Site Reuses Tailored to Community Needs 

The Clearwater Brownfields Assessment Pilot target area, with approximately 220 potentially contaminated commercial, 

industrial, and residential properties located on more than 1,800 acres, has the distinction of being the first statecertified brownfields area in Florida. Among Clearwater’s many successful brownfields restoration projects is the 

site of a former gas station that was transformed into a free health clinic to serve the residents of North Greenwood, 

the largest minority community in the city as well as one of the poorest. 

Once EPA’s Brownfields Pilot had performed assessments on the property, the State of Florida provided $200,000 for 

cleanup of underground storage tanks and contaminated soil. Another $320,000 from the 

state paid for construction of the new facility. 

participated in redevelopment planning and voted unanimously for the city to lease 

the property for use as a non-profit clinic. 

have the Greenwood Community Health Resource Center, a free health facility 

offering immunizations, physicals, tests and screenings, flu shots, and health 

counseling services. 

Significantly Boosting the Local Economy 

Once a premier coastal port of the Pacific Northwest, the Thea Foss waterway 

in Tacoma, Washington, had become dilapidated and underused due to 

contamination from its past maritime activities. Tacoma City 

Council moved to acquire 27 acres of this contaminated land. , 15 

Funds 

Local residents, 

Local residents and group representatives attended public safety and update meetings, publicity events, and 

This former brownfield has 

Elias Howe Elementary School now has a recreation area and Bassick High School has athletic 

The park is always bustling with residents, and is often the location for community 

“If people feel they have some input and control on a project like this,” 

Representatives of North Greenwood 

North Greenwood residents now 

In 1991, the 

Later

Brownfields Success Story Solid Waste October 2003 

EPA-500-F-03-251 and Emergency Response (5105) www.epa.gov/brownfields/ 
To find out more about 

sustainable brownfields 

redevelopment, visit EPA’s 

Brownfields web site at 

http://www.epa.gov/brownfields 

or call EPA’s Office of Brownfields 

Cleanup and Redevelopment at 

(202) 566-2777. 

The Chihuly Bridge of Glass seen from 

a distance in Tacoma, Washington. 

additional acres were purchased. Tacoma had completed its investigations and plans for removing 

contamination from the city-owned waterway, but sources of funding for redevelopment remained uncertain. The 

city used its EPA Brownfields Pilot to help create the Thea Foss Waterway Public Development Authority (PDA), 

and to assist in generating a revitalization strategy. , the Brownfields Pilot helped 

Tacoma to leverage the initial $63 million in redevelopment funding, the majority of 

which came from private sources. 

That financing resulted in the Museum of Glass International Center for Contemporary 

Art, which is seen as the first step in an overall waterfront renewal plan devised by 

the PDA. Tacoma native and renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly, the 

museum’s distinctive, four-story cone now serves as a landmark for those entering 

the city. The 1.6-acre property consists of an exhibition space, a cafe, five outdoor 

installations, a gift shop, a “hot shop” where the public can view the process of glass 

blowing and cutting, and public access to the waterfront. 

heart of glass country in the United States, and the museum appears to be a perfect fit. 

The Brownfields Pilot also assisted Tacoma in leveraging an additional $6 million for the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, 

which was designed by Dale Chihuly and which opened with the museum in July 2002. 

and a rail line, the bridge connects the waterfront with downtown Tacoma and offers pedestrians access to newly 

redeveloped areas along the Thea Foss Waterway, showcasing exotic displays of Chihuly glass artwork along the way. 

Museum marketers initially questioned whether anyone would come to Tacoma, a city with a reputation as Seattle’s 

poor, blue-collar cousin. , both the museum and the bridge were an instant success. Within the first six 

months more than 185,000 visitors came to the museum, contributing $17 million to the local economy; tourism 

agencies in nearby cities cannot keep up with the demand of people that want to travel to Tacoma. The museum and 

bridge have been called “an explosion of color” by The New York Times and “spectacular” by The Los Angeles 

Times. Adjacent to the Glass Museum, a new, $40 million, mixed-use development has been completed, and a $20 

million, mixed-use renovation is nearing completion, both on former brownfields. Yet another, $60 million, mixed-use 

development that will feature a new hotel is expected to be completed in 2005. 

EPA, and with significant private-sector financial support, Tacoma has been able to turn the shore of the Thea Foss 

into a residential, commercial, and cultural public esplanade. 

Sustaining the Philosophy of EPA’s Brownfields Program 

Success breeds continued success, and as the Brownfields Program builds 

sustainable redevelopment models, future projects have examples to follow. 

The Program’s philosophy is to reflect a model of environmental protection 

that creates economically viable, environmentally sound, self-sustaining 

communities. 

sustainable is an essential component of that philosophy. 

that reuses are environmentally sound while providing local residents 

with the greatest possible benefit, the Brownfields Program will continue 

to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods across the country and 

prevent the creation of future brownfields. 

By 1995, 

Ultimately

Inspired by 

The Pacific Northwest is the 

Spanning 500 feet over I-705 

However

Through the efforts of the city and 

Ensuring that brownfields redevelopment choices are 

By ensuring 

Brownfields Success Story Solid Waste October 2003 

EPA-500-F-03-251 and Emergency Response (5105) www.epa.gov/brownfields/