Federal Budget Sends About $6 Million to South Coast Projects
By Scott Brooks
WASHINGTON – This fiscal year’s long-overdue federal budget contains millions of dollars to improve New Bedford’s transportation system and develop programs highlighting the city’s history.
The House overwhelmingly approved the budget Thursday, and the Senate was expected to pass the bill Friday.
Federal money will go to creating an information “nerve center” for the city’s public and commercial buses and trains, which will provide officials with detailed information on the city’s transportation infrastructure. Money also will be used to transform the historic Corson Block buildings in downtown New Bedford and to develop educational programs at marine museums in the city.
In all, the package gives about $6 million to projects in New Bedford and Fall River, Massachusetts legislators said in a joint statement Thursday.
“With cuts to both federal and state programs across the board having a negative effect on our older urban areas, it’s especially important that we were able to provide at least some specific funding to help New Bedford with important projects,” Rep. Barney Frank, D-MA, said in the statement.
Historical projects comprise a large chunk of the New Bedford allocations. The budget splits $2 million between the New Bedford Whaling Museum and the city’s soon-to-be-built Oceanarium. The money, provided under the No Child Left Behind education act, will assist the two institutions with developing educational and cultural programs on the history of New Bedford’s whaling and fishing industry.
In addition, the budget sends $225,000 to renovate the Nathan and Polly Johnson House, where abolitionist writer Frederick Douglass lived after escaping from slavery. The house, which has been used as three apartments in recent years, was named a national historic landmark three years ago. Part of the money will be used to create housing for a low- to moderate-income tenant.
The city also is expected to receive half a million dollars to complete the expansion of the New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park. That money would be used to renovate the Corson Block buildings for use as educational facilities, as well as a visitor center, for the park.
Among proposed uses for the buildings, space is likely to be given to create archives, classrooms, two conference rooms, a lecture hall, a resource library and possibly several offices.
The two buildings that comprise the Corson Block, 25 and 27 William St., were severely damaged in a 1997 fire that left the complex in critical physical condition. The Waterfront Historic Area League purchased both buildings in 1999.
Nearly $1 million has been earmarked to bring Bristol County into compliance with the federal Clean Water Act. The money, the latest in a long line of federal dollars directed toward remedying the county’s environmental problems, would go to mitigating sewer overflow problems in New Bedford and Fall River. Bristol County has received $29 million for these projects since 1995.
Including the sewage program, the budget allocates nearly $2 million to Fall River projects. Half of that sum will go to a large-scale reconstruction of Route 79, which would be downsized from an eight-lane, limited access highway to a four-lane, tree-lined boulevard.
That project has been in the planning stages for several years and is considered a key aspect of the city’s plans to revitalize the waterfront. City officials have estimated the project’s cost at about $20 million.
“The Route 79 project is vital for the continued development of Fall River,” Rep. James McGovern, D-MA, said in the statement. When it’s completed, the work on Route 79 will enhance not only the aesthetic value of the area but will open up new space for productive use.”
By effectively relocating Route 79, the city expects to gain 8.5 acres of land for possible development as office and retail space. Legislators also say the project will spur the creation of roughly 5,000 new jobs.
In 1999, New Bedford received federal dollars for a similar remodeling of Route 18.
Overall, the Bay State is set to receive more than $35 million in the final budget, much of which will head to projects in and around Boston.
Peter Kovar, a spokesman for Rep. Frank, said there may be other local projects hidden in the new budget. Legislators have rushed to dissect the document, which is typically voted on before most members have time to read it all the way through.
Published in The New Bedford Standard Times, in Massachusetts.
