Fall River's Government Center is helping to fight obesity by giving people more motivation to take the stairs. A new Staircase Gallery opened on December 15, 2009, in the two staircases that connect each of the floors of the six-story building. Artwork from students and others now grace each of the landings providing visual points of interest to make walking a more satisfying alternative to taking one of the building's three elevators. Mass In Motion coordinator Julie Kelly put the gallery together with the assistance of B.M.C. Durfee High School art faculty members and Department of Public Works crews over the fall. A ceremony to mark the opening of the project was held in the lobby of the building with students, their parents and other officials. Mass in Motion is a state-wide initiative to combat obesity and the chronic diseases that result from overweight and lack of physical exercise privately funded by the state’s largest insurance carriers. Grants were awarded to ten communities across the state and Fall River is one of only two communities to receive an implementation grant. Mass In Motion seeks to create policy and improve the environment so that making healthy choices, such as walking or biking, are the easiest choices. Click here for the Herald News article about the event. For more information about the project, contact Mass In Motion coordinator Julie Kelly at 508-324-2411.  

(Top row, left) Fall River firefighter Paul Berube describes the experience of climbing 55 flights of stairs in five minutes during a contest among firefighters in Providence, RI. (Top row, center) Mass in Motion coordinator Julianne Kelly welcomes student artists, city officials and guest to the opening event held in the Government Center lobby. (Top row, right) Jeff and Michelle Richard pose for a photo with their daughter, Durfee High School junior and artist Abbey, and her boyfriend, Brandon Paiva and her grandmother ,Patricia Richard. (Middle  row, left) B.M.C. Durfee High School Art Department chairperson, Elizabeth Yokell, praises the student artists for their work. (Middle row, center) Photos by City employee Nadine Castro and student Marcio Santos, center, grace one of the stairwells. (Middle row, right) Phil Sabatino of Comcast Cable TV interviews Durfee High School art instructor Robert Geleney. (Bottom row, left) Government Center Human Resources staff members Mary Jo Cordeiro and Ida Geraldes point out one of the signs next to the elevator prompting people to take the stairs ("Waiting, waiting, still waiting? . . .Take the stairs!"). (Bottom row, center) Student artist Virginia Thach talks about her artwork with Healthy Lives coordinator Mike Ramos and Durfee English teacher Liz Dunn who has Virginia in her Freedom Writers group. (Bottom row, right) Guests enjoy one of Virginia's paintings.