SUCCESS STORIES

Canadian Brownfield Case Studies

Case studies were prepared as a course assignment by students enrolled in PLG845: Brownfield Reuse & Development, Cleaning up the Past and Building the Future, School of Urban and Regional Planning, Toronto Metropolitan University (Winter 2019, Winter 2021, Winter 2023).

Winter 2019

• Atlas Landfill Remediation Project – Welland, ON
• Bentway – Toronto, ON
• Centre Suites – Owen Sound, ON
• East Village Brownfield Remediation – Calgary, AB
• Greenwich-Mohawk – Brantford, ON
• Greystone Village Redevelopment, Ottawa, ON
• Inspiration Lakeview 1 – Mississauga, ON
• Inspiration Lakeview 2 – Mississauga, ON
• Lac-Megantic Rail Disaster Remediation – Lac-Megantic, QC
• New Eva’s Phoenix – Toronto, ON
• Pan Am Sports Centre – Scarborough, ON
• St. Michael’s Hospital 3.0 – Toronto, ON
• 4th Avenue Flyover – Calgary, AB
• Pleasant Hill Village – Saskatoon, SK
• Orillia Recreation Facility – Orillia, ON
• North Bay Rail Lands – North Bay, ON
• East Village – Calgary, AB
• Cascade Hotel and Casino – Langley, BC
• Avenir Centre – Moncton, NB

Winter  2021

• New Calumet – L’Île-du-Grand-Calumet, QC
• The Barrel Yards Redevelopment – Waterloo, ON
• Walkerville Stones – Windsor, ON
• Garrison Crossing – Toronto, ON
• Via Moto: Salvage Yard Redevelopment – Nobelton, ON
• Park City Commons Redevelopment – Winnipeg, MB
• Bata Shoe Factory Redevelopment – Batawa, ON
• The Meadoway – Scarborough, ON
• Mid-Town Gateway Project – Nanaimo, BC
• Lansdowne Park Remediation – Ottawa, ON
• BC Hydro Rock Bay Remediation Project – Rock Bay, BC
• Corktown Common – Toronto, ON
• Parc D’Entreprises Saint-Charles – Montreal, QC
• Port Lands Flood Protection Project – Toronto, ON
• Brock University, Marilyn I. Walker School – St. Catharines, ON
• Cobourg Tannery District – Cobourg, ON
• Crosstown Celestica Development – Toronto, ON

Winter 2023

• Pier 8 Redevelopment – Hamilton, ON
• 158 Sterling Road – Toronto, ON
• 77 Wade Avenue –  Toronto, ON
• Esquimalt Harbour Remediation – Victoria, BC
• The Marwell Tar Pit Remediation – Whitehorse, YT
• Watson Island Redevelopment – Prince Rupert, BC
• Farmer’s Branch – Farmer’s Branch, TX

U.S. Brownfield Case Studies

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5: Beginning in 2004 the Regional Administrator for Region 5 presented a Certificate of Appreciation award for these successful projects.
• Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: List of remediation and redevelopment program success stories in Wisconsin
• City of Milwaukee: List of companies who have successfully redeveloped brownfields
• Baltimore, MD: Map of Brownfields and Urban Agriculture-Related Locations (PDF)
  This map was prepared by staff of the Center for a Livable Future at the Johns Hopkins University, Bloomsberg School of Public Health as part of a presentation at Brownfields 2011. Brownfields site data used in this map can be found on the website for the State of Maryland Department of the Environment’s Land Restoration Program.
• Bellows Falls, VT: Learn about a community cleanup turning a brownfield at the foot of a historic bridge into the Waypoint Visitor’s center that now also hosts the Bellows Falls farmer’s market 
• Bridgeport, CT: Groundwork Bridgeport – Urban Lot Regeneration
• Denver, CO: Groundwork Denver – Transforming Brownfields
• Glens Falls, NY: Farmers Market
• Lawrence, MA: Groundwork Lawrence – Community Gardens
• Lynchburg, VA: Lynchburg Grows:  Historic rose greenhouses assessed and cleaned with the help of the City and State to recreate a community growing center.
• New Britain, CT: Learn about a brownfield and abandoned greenhouses restored to growing and selling healthy local food at: Urban Oaks Organic Farm
• Philadelphia, PA: An urban agriculture pioneer on contaminated sites, Mary Seton Corboy tells her tale on the Urban Agriculture Notes website.  Learn more about Greensgrow Farm on the Greensgrow Farm website.
• Portland, OR: Groundwork Portland – Emerson Street Garden
• Sacramento, CA: A community garden cautionary tale and example of how brownfields resources create safe growing spaces at: EPA’s Fremont Community Garden Success Story (PDF) and Fremont Community Garden
• Saginaw, MI: Learn about two brownfield reuses that can improve public health – a health facility and farmers market for healthy food at: Saginaw’s Farmer’s Market website
• Shelton, CT: Learn about innovative efforts to clean and reuse property safely and creating a farmers market in How Does Your Garden Grow? Brownfields Redevelopment and Local Agriculture (PDF)
• Somerville, MA: Allen Street Community Garden website highlight the process to turn a brownfield into a community garden in Somerville, Massachusetts. In addition, Groundwork Somerville – School Yard Gardens

For over two decades, Professor Christopher De Sousa has been studying brownfield projects in the U.S. that have been redeveloped sustainably. Check out his new book, Sustainable Brownfield Development: Building a Sustainable Future on Sites of our Polluting Past, which tells the stories of two dozen sustainable brownfield projects across the country.  Some of the projects laid the foundation for sustainable brownfields Best Management Practice (BMP) at the beginning of the millennium. Others started their journey towards sustainability in 2008 when they received funding under the U.S. EPA’s Sustainable Brownfields Pilots program (Pilots).  The cases organized by end-use include:

Industrial and Commercial

• Chicago Center for Green Technology, Chicago IL (BMP)
• Menomonee Valley, Milwaukee WI (BMP)

Office

• Montgomery Park, Baltimore MD (BMP)
• Heifer International, Little Rock AR (BMP)

Residential

• Artspace Commons, Salt Lake City UT (BMP)
• Anvil Mountain, Silverton CO (Pilot)

Community and Green Spaces

• Moran Plant, Burlington VT (Pilot)
• Elmhurst Park, New York NY (BMP)
• Fresh Kills Park, New York NY (BMP)
• Haynes Recreation Center, Loredo TX (Pilot)
• Allen Morrison, Lynchburg VA (Pilot)

Corner Gas Stations

• June Key Delta House, Portland OR (Pilot)
• Tabor Commons, Portland OR (Pilot)
• Green Avenue, Greenville, SC (Pilot)

Mainstreets, Neighborhoods, and Towns

• Focus Hope, Detroit MI (Pilot)
• Samoa Peninsula, Humbolt County, CA (Pilot)
• Jackson Square, Boston MA (Pilot)
• Commercial Street District, Springfield MO (Pilot)

Mixed-Use and TODs

• Atlantic Station, Atlanta GA (BMP)
• South Waterfront, Portland OR (BMP)
• Langdale and Riverdale Mills, Valley AL (Pilot)
• The Waterfront, Allentown PA (Pilot)

Brightfields

• Brockton Brightfield, Brockton MA (BMP)
• Holmes Road/Sunnyside Landfill, Houston Solar, Houston TX (Pilot)

Previously posted here in pdf format were older drafts of some of these case studies.  If you would like copies, please get in touch with Dr. De Sousa at chris.desousa@torontomu.ca