The City of Fall River has received a total of $6.7 to construct an interconnected network of parks and trails in the center of the City. The grant was awarded through the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs' (EOEEA) Gateway Cities Parks Program which was designed to create parks and enhance recreational facilities in 26 designated communities that have median household incomes, per capita incomes and educational levels below the state average. The announcement was followed by a public forum held in the atrium of Government Center on January 29, 2014. Kurt Gaertner, representing the Gateway Cities Parks Program at EOEEA, and Nina Brown of Brown, Richardson & Rowe, who are designing the park, were on hand along with Planning Director Elizabeth Dennehy, Community Maintenance Director Kenneth Pacheco and Parks Director Nancy Smith. Click here for a ten-minute video of the forum. Click here for the Herald News article. For more information about the project, contact Fall River Mass In Motion coordinator Julianne Kelly, at 508-324-2405.

(Top row, left) Stephanie Cooper and Kurt Gaertner of the Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs greet Green Futures representative James Hornsby in the lobby of Government Center. (Top row, right) Fall River Park Department Director Nancy Smith and City Planning Director Elizabeth Dennehy talk with Flint Neighborhood Association President Carlos Cesar before the forum. (Row two, left) City Councilor Jasiel Correia II, Mr. Cesar, Ms. Dennehy, Community Maintenance Director Kenneth Pacheco and Nina Brown of Brown, Richardson & Rowe look over the plans as Ms. Cooper talks with Fall River Mass In Motion Coordinator Julianne Kelly. (Row three) Fall River Mayor William Flanagan talks about the value of the project to the health and quality of life in the City. (Bottom Row) Ms. Brown and Ms. Cooper take questions from the audience.