Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/616041
Celebrating 50 Years of Growth, Jobs and Development 23 Gateway Park • HISTORY Once a busy industrial site at one of the critical entry points to the City, this parcel of land became run-down when large manufacturers, such as Ziff Paper, New England Plating and Parker Metals, moved out of the area. The site was now a blighted area of vacant and dilapidated buildings, and the soil surrounding the structures was rife with dangerous chemicals. • CHALLENGE As Worcester embarked on a plan to revitalize the downtown area, it sought ways to reclaim this polluted, fallow 11-acre brownfield and convert it into a clean, useable business development project that would create jobs and generate revenue for the City. • SOLUTION The WBDC partnered with WPI to clean up this devastated area and begin construction of a state-of-the-art bioengineering center and office building. A $2.5 million grant from the Economic Development Administration (EDA) and a $2 million Public Works Economic Development (PWED) grant enabled the project to move forward. • RESULTS In 2007, the $40 million Gateway Park, which houses the WPI Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center, opened and contains laboratory, incubator and educational space for emerging companies and research and development in the life sciences. Gateway Park currently provides 330 jobs and generates $1,415,381 in annual tax revenue. The Gateway Park project received the "Brownfields Project of the Year" award in 2006 from the Environmental Business Council of New England, exemplifying "excellence in overcoming social, economic, technical and institutional challenges." A Cornerstone In Life Sciences Groundbreaking: 2005 Opened: 2007 «