Pawtucket awards $100k for Blackstone River Corridor redevelopment

THE BLACKSTONE River, shown here at Slater Mill in Pawtucket. / COURTESY JOHN H. CHAFEE BLACKSTONE RIVER VALLEY NATIONAL HERITAGE CORRIDOR
THE BLACKSTONE River, shown here at Slater Mill in Pawtucket. / COURTESY JOHN H. CHAFEE BLACKSTONE RIVER VALLEY NATIONAL HERITAGE CORRIDOR

PAWTUCKET – The city of Pawtucket awarded a $100,000 contract to redevelop the Blackstone River Corridor as part of a joint project between the cities of Pawtucket and Central Falls to revitalize the riverfront, Pawtucket announced late Tuesday.

The Pawtucket Purchasing Board approved the $98,730 consultant contract with the Providence branch of Mass.-based development consulting company Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc., on Monday, July 23.

VHB is tasked with planning the redevelopment along the Blackstone River Corridor that runs through the two cities. The scope of the work will include identifying real estate development strategies, designing riverfront amenities and ways to encourage private investment, according to a press release.

“This is the next step we need to take to unlock the great untapped potential of our riverfront, which historically gave rise to the economic growth that Pawtucket and Central Falls were built on,” Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien said in prepared remarks.

- Advertisement -

Pawtucket and Central Falls, in partnership with the Pawtucket Foundation, received a $100,000 Statewide Planning Challenge Grant in February for their riverfront initiatives.

The SPC Grant leveraged with over $90,000 in private contributions, and donations of $38,000 and $3,000 from the Rhode Island Foundation and Ocean State Charities Trust respectively, adds to the substantial resources at the cities’ disposal for the district’s development.

No posts to display