Ironbound Stadium, once called home by East Side High School's football and soccer teams, has been closed since 1987 after workers discovered harmful chemicals left behind by a plastics factory
NEWARK - After nearly 30 years, city officials and pharmaceutical giant Celanese have agreed to terms on a deal to clean up the contaminated former site of Ironbound Stadium.
Business Administrator Jack Kelly confirmed the tentative settlement on Wednesday, saying Celanese had agreed to pay approximately $2.3 million to remove the soil contaminated by a former plastics factory, cap the field and drain it of toxic chemicals.
The work is expected to take only a few months - a bittersweet victory for locals who have watched the stadium's field disappear into weeds and debris, and its once-mighty bleachers crumble from neglect over the last 28 years.
"It's sorely needed, both for the public use and the open space, as well as for pride that it brings back," said Joseph Della Fave, executive director at the Ironbound Community Center.
"It's giving back to the community what it once had."
MORE: DuPont, Newark agree to settle lawsuits over toxic former factory
The Ironbound, dominated by first and second-generation immigrants from Portugal, Brazil and other parts of South America, once counted the stadium as one of its most treasured gathering places. Groups of men and children would organize soccer games on the field, and the local high school, East Side, played football there on Fridays.
In the early 1980s, however, workers digging a nearby pool at the corner of St. Charles Street and Rome Street discovered toxic levels of PCBs and other chemicals left behind by the former plastics plant. The federal government eventually declared it a Superfund site, and in 1987, the field was closed.
Celanese agreed to pay for a groundwater treatment system that cleared the way for the pool (built on stilts to be safe). A recreation complex complete with an ice rink, basketball courts and other amenities sprung up around it - eventually named for the city's first black mayors, Kenneth Gibson and Sharpe James.
The adjacent field, however, was left to languish, as the weeds climbed higher and graffiti gradually covered the grandstand. Over the years, the stadium's days as a point of local pride faded, replaced by an image of the area's toxic past.
"People here understand what the ravages of our industrial legacy have bestowed on the community," said Della Fave. "Its (Celanese's) responsibility that this has been taken away from the community for three decades."
Celanese declined to comment on the proposed settlement or cleanup, issuing a statement saying its discussions with the city were ongoing.
The company, now based in Irving, Tex., had multiple facilities in the East Ward, including a formaldehyde plant on the site that now houses the Essex County Jail.
Once the company has cleaned and capped the site, the city will place a synthetic play field on the site, which could be ready as early as spring, according to East Ward Councilman Augusto Amador.
The field will be named after Newark native and local soccer legend Eddie Moraes, a former coach at East Side and founder of the Luso International Sports Association, one of New Jersey's largest soccer leagues.
In a statement on his Facebook page, Amador thanked Kelly and Mayor Ras Baraka's administration for their continued attention to the field despite the decades since it had last been used.
"The success of the negotiations with Celanese give us faith to believe that persistence and consistence always pay off as long as your heart is in the right place," he said.
Dan Ivers may be reached at divers@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanIversNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.