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.