Head Start Program Brownfield Revitalization
March 2005 marked a new beginning for the Community Action Agency of Somerville’s (CAAS) Head Start program. After looking for a home that would bring together its children’s educational programs that were historically scattered throughout the city, its quest for a new, central location to house its programs has finally come to fruition.
Creativity and perseverance paid off when CAAS spotted three vacant lots on Allen Street, a cluster of Brownfields located in the densest neighborhood of Somerville. Using an EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant of $350,000 awarded to the city in 1996, CAAS and the city worked together to assess all three sites for contamination. The work revealed soil and/or water contaminated by polychlorinated byphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, antimony, arsenic, lead and nickel.
With the assessment work complete, CAAS purchased the properties and began remediating the site. EPA supported the clean-up phase of the project with an additional $200,000 EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grant in 2003, and a $500,000 loan from EPA’s Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund in 2004. Additional funding for the project came from multiple private and public donors, including the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development Block Grant program, the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Administration for Children, the Boston Community Capital Fund, two anonymous private foundations and the CAAS’ capital campaign.
Before building on the new site, Head Start classes were held at various locations throughout the city. Operating under one roof saves the program money and allows it to spend more on its unique early childhood education programs for children of low-income families. CAAS determined that it will save money on administration and transportation costs as well. The facility opened last week with eight classrooms that serve a total of 126 children.
By cleaning up these blighted properties and opening this educational facility, the city of Somerville and CAAS will restore pride in the neighborhood, improve the tax base for the city, and provide a valuable resource for the children of low-income families — a great example of a true brownsfield success story.
