Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance

       The Gateway City Parks Initiative is a new program designed to develop or restore public parks in underserved urban neighborhoods in Gateway cities in Massachusetts. Parks are vital to the health and propserity of every neighborhood and these parks will improve the quality of life for the communities where they will be placed.

Gateway Plus Action Grant / Gateway City Parks Initiative / Growth District Initiative / Brownfields

$8.9 million was given in grants under the Patrick-Murray administration’s new Gateway City Parks initiative. The Concord River Greenway in Lowell, Szot Park Stadium in Chicopee, a new park and trail in Fitchburg, a greenway along the Neponset River in Boston, and Bicentennial Park in Fall River are among projects assisted in the program’s initial phase, with grants totaling $8.9 million.  Twenty-two Massachusetts cities are eligible for the program, which targets communities with population greater than 35,000 and median household incomes, per capita incomes, and educational attainment levels below the state average.

The new program is flexible, providing municipal officials with a menu of funding options for all phases of park development.  Funding can be used for activities and costs such as brownfield assessment and clean-up, park planning and recreational needs assessments – including the development of Open Space and Recreation Plans – activities not previously eligible for state parks funding. Cities can also use the grants for acquisition, design and construction of parks, greenways, and other recreational facilities.