City awarded $388,000 RI DEM grant for improvements at Cass Park
Posted on: September 28, 2016 - 4:30pm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 28, 2016
Contact: Blake Collins, bcollins@woonsocketri.org, office: (401) 762-6400 ex: 2963, cell: (508) 838-3371
City awarded $388,000 RI DEM grant for improvements at Cass Park
WOONSOCKET, RI: The City of Woonsocket was announced as a recipient of a 2016 Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) Outdoor Recreation Grant in the amount of $388,000 for improvements at Cass Park. The grant was part of a round of $4 million in awards made by DEM to communities throughout the state.
“The City of Woonsocket is thrilled to hear that we have secured funding for improvements to Cass Park,” said Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt “Outdoor recreational spaces in our community, like Cass Park, are a vital component to improving and maintaining quality of life in the City. This also places us that much closer to our goal of creating an athletic complex for our City’s youth to use.”
“Thank you to Director Coit and DEM for their leadership in expanding and improving outdoor recreational resources in Woonsocket and throughout the state,” added Mayor Baldelli-Hunt. “I would also like to recognize the substantial efforts of our Department of Planning and Development, particularly our grant-writer Paola Echeverry-Orlando.”
The grant award will allow the City to continue improvements at the park including the creation of a girl’s softball field, upgrades to walkways and parking areas, the replacement of two footbridges, and potentially the installation of two basketball courts. Cass Park is currently utilized throughout the year by the greater community and hosts specific uses such as a children’s fishing derby and the United State Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service Program.
"We're pleased to play a role in improving recreational facilities at Cass Park through this grant funding," said DEM Director Janet Coit. "Having safe, accessible places in our communities to get outdoors and enjoy nature is so important to the health of our families and state - and to our ability to foster the next generation of environmental stewards."
Director Coit also noted that the Green Economy Bond on November's ballot will provide $35 million in funding to improve state and local recreational facilities; preserve open space; address stormwater; and clean up former industrial "Brownfield" sites for redevelopment.
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