WOBURN — She’s not exactly sure why, but nearly every time Donna Robbins passes by the future site of a multimillion-dollar restaurant and hotel development project on Washington Street, she takes a picture.

In December, a Red Robin Gourmet Burgers restaurant opened on the property, once home to a factory owned by chemical manufacturer W.R. Grace & Co. The company was one of several blamed for a notorious case of industrial pollution chronicled in the book and movie “A Civil Action.’’ Grace was part of a lawsuit filed by families who lived adjacent to the toxic waste dump. They alleged chemical runoff from the property polluted two East Woburn drinking water wells, causing the leukemia-related deaths of five children and one adult in the early 1980s.

After a lengthy federal trial in Boston, W.R. Grace eventually settled for $8 million without admitting wrongdoing.

Robbins, whose son Robbie died of leukemia in 1981 at age 9, was a plaintiff in the landmark case, which led to what was at the time the largest and most expensive chemical cleanup in history.

For Robbins, and city officials, development of the site will finally transform the last of what has long been considered Woburn’s symbolic black eye — an ever-present reminder of a dark legacy.

“Every day I want to take another picture of how it’s changed,’’ said Robbins, 67, who lives less than 2 miles away from the site, which is in the middle of what has become one of Woburn’s busiest commercial and retail areas. “I’m not sure why I bother to take the picture; I guess it’s some kind of proof that they’re trying to make it better.’’

Vacant since 2006, when the long-abandoned W.R. Grace building was razed, the 12-acre site is now marked by rows of paved parking spots and the newly opened restaurant. The burger chain outlet is the first completed portion of Woburn Landing, a $55 million project by Boston-based Madison Properties. The company purchased the site for $4.1 million in 2014 and began construction in 2015.

The development also will include a Chick-fil-A restaurant planned to open in the fall, a yet-to-be-announced restaurant also slated to open this year, and a 235-room hotel shared by Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites that is expected to be completed in 2019.

Located just off the I-93/I-95 cloverleaf ramps, the site has attracted the attention of various developers over the years, but until now no projects have moved forward. The previous proposal to develop the Washington Street site dates to 2006, when French sporting goods retailer Decathlon said it would build a new retail store and corporate office on the property. Several months later, the company ceased US operations.

The parcel — which in 1982 was designated as a federal Superfund site — has undergone more than two decades of government-mandated cleanup and remediation. All of the contaminated soil has been removed, but some cleanup work will continue for at least the next 20 years, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. A filtration system still treats ground water 30 feet below the surface to remove contaminants. The ongoing process is the responsibility of W.R. Grace.

“[EPA officials] understand it’s a key piece of property in the city of Woburn, and that the time had come that the results they were hoping for had been achieved, and that it was time to put the property into productive use,’’ said Denis Dowdle, president of Madison Properties.

Woburn stands to benefit from more than $1 million in projected annual tax revenue from the development, as well as from the creation of about 200 jobs, and approximately $2.5 million in improvements on a notoriously congested portion of Washington Street, Dowdle said. But the biggest impact, he said, will be psychological.

“It’s going to take a site with that history and put it into productive use and not have it be a constant reminder in Woburn’s history,’’ Dowdle said.

Redevelopment of the site will help the city heal from what was “a very difficult time,’’ said Mayor Scott Galvin.

“For the people who were directly involved, it’s always going to be something they’ll never forget,’’ Galvin said. “Nothing’s ever going to change that; it was a tragic thing. Moving forward, we’re doing the right things, with responsible development and creating a solid tax base for the city so we can continue to grow and prosper.’’

Robbins, a retired nurse and environmental activist, said there isn’t a day that goes by that she doesn’t think of her son and the case. She lives on Wyman Street, around the bend from the home she occupied when Robbie became ill. She bought her current house with the settlement money. Leaving Woburn wasn’t an option, Robbins said, because “it’s where my son is buried.’’

The Woburn Landing development is bittersweet for Robbins (“why should anybody enjoy their time on that property?’’), but she’s glad the bleak landscape will finally be erased.

“You can’t leave that land there to look like a horrible site forever,’’ she said. “So remediating it is the best thing. It’s not going to bring our kids back, but we know that the water there has been cleaned up pretty well.’’

Key dates at the infamous Woburn site

1979

State closes supply wells G and H due to high contamination levels.

1982

Lawsuit filed on behalf of eight families against three companies.

1986

Federal jury finds W.R. Grace liable for the contamination, but not the second company, Beatrice Foods. A third company, UniFirst, had settled out of court prior to trial.

1986

W.R. Grace settles with families for $8 million, admitting no wrongdoing.

1991

The EPA reaches landmark settlement with four companies, including W.R. Grace, for a record $70 million cleanup.

1995

“A Civil Action,’’ a book by Jonathan Harr chronicling the events of the case, is published.

1998

The film “A Civil Action,’’ based on the book, starring John Travolta, is released.

2012

Contaminated soil successfully removed from 12-acre W.R. Grace site.

2014

Madison Properties purchases 12-acre site. Starts $55 million development.

2016

First of three new restaurants opens.

2017

Two other restaurants scheduled to open.

2019

235-room hotel slated to open.

Katheleen Conti can be reached at kconti@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @GlobeKConti.