The Lead Mills site is an historic parcel of land jointly owned by the Town of Marblehead and the City of Salem, Massachusetts, located at the confluence of the Forest River and Salem Harbor. The site was historically an industrial hub for both communities, and most notably home to lead mills that have heavily impacted the soils on site with lead contamination. The Lead Mills parcel became conservation area, and went through a series of remediation techniques to stabilize the site’s lead-impacted soils. There are still limitations to the uses of the site due to the fragility of the stabilized soils and the establishing vegetation.
The final design provides over two acres of grass-and-meadow-lands that require minimal maintenance once established, and combined with an acre of shrubs, the site mimics the stages of forest succession offering needed habitat and food for migratory birds.
