Kenneth Redding, President of UniBank, Jennifer Teguis, the Greenway Challenge's Director of Development and Charlie Thompson from the Whitin Community Center

UniBank Blackstone River Valley Greenway Challenge
The Greenway Challenge has a new Title sponsor and a new course in place as organizers ready for the signature Blackstone Valley adventure race to be held on Saturday, September 29, 2007. This year’s course -- starting at the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s Blackstone River State Park Visitor Center located on RT 295 in Lincoln, RI and ending at scenic Waters Farm in Sutton, MA – presents a new and exciting “challenge” for participants.

Adventure race participants can register to compete in a six different divisions (see www.greenwaychallenge.org for details) and all teams are allowed one support person to assist with their gear at transition sites. As always, the UniBank Greenway Challenge will end with a Finish Line Celebration that includes delicious food, beverages, music by the band True Gin and prizes for Challenge teams and participants. “We are excited about our partnership with our friends at Waters Farm,” Barbara Dixon, Event Coordinator, said. “The volunteers are wonderful to work with and it will be such a delight to show off the Farm and its amazing view of Lake Manchaug to the participants, their friends and families.”

The other segments of the course will be divulged approximately two weeks before the event at the Captains Meetings that will be held on September 12^th at River Bend Farm in Uxbridge, MA and again on September 13^th at the Whitin Community Center in Whitinsville, MA both starting at 7:00 p.m. Team captains and Ironmen/Ironwomen will then be briefed on any final adjustments to the route and other issues.

The UniBank Greenway Challenge organizers urge those thinking of participating to register early as registration closes September 1st. Brochures and registration forms can be found at information kiosks at tourist destinations, visitor centers and sponsoring sites around the valley. Registration forms are also available on line at www.greenwaychallenge.org. For more information, please call Barbara Dixon at 401-762-0250 x 30.

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Brownfield assessment funding available in RI
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded a $200,000 grant to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) for Brownfield site assessments in the targeted Blackstone Valley Communities of Woonsocket, Pawtucket and Central Falls. The funds can be used for assessments on properties owned by municipalities, non-profit organizations and tribal lands. Privately owned land may be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The Commission was a partner in the grant application. For more information, applications and deadlines visit www.dem.ri.gov/bfassess/index.htm or call Cynthia Gianfrancesco at 401-222-4700.

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An early 20th-century image of the Southwick-Daniels Farmhouse (courtesy of Daniels Farmstead Foundation).

Corridor Partners Receive Preservation Grants
Congratulations to the Daniels Farmstead Foundation and the Douglas Historical Society! They have each been awarded matching grants from the Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund (MPPF). Administered by the Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC), the MPPF is a highly competitive grant round with only 18 projects across the Commonwealth receiving funding this year. Thanks to the support of the MHC, critical restoration work will be completed at two important Blackstone Valley landmarks. 

The $40,000 grant to the Daniels Farmstead Foundation will help support the restoration of the exterior of the farmhouse at the Southwick-Daniels Farm in Blackstone. Built ca. 1830 – with an ell that dates from the mid-1700s – the farmhouse is part of a remarkably intact historic farmstead that had been farmed by several generations of the same family for over two centuries. The work will be based on construction documents prepared by Chenot Associates, Inc., with a grant from The Commission.

The Douglas Historical Society will put its $31,000 grant toward the restoration of the monitor skylight and repairs to the roof at the ca. 1833 E.N. Jenckes Store on Main Street. Water infiltration has undermined portions of the roof framing causing the skylight to settle unevenly and threatening the building and the collections it houses. The restoration will be guided by an assessment and plans prepared by the National Park Service’s Architectural Preservation Division in Lowell with support from The Commission.

The MPPF grant awards are subject to pending reauthorization of the state capital accounts and the availability of sufficient allocated funds. For more information, visit the MHC’s web site or contact Joanna Doherty, Community Planner at the Commission, at 401-762-0250 or e-mail us

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Blackstone Valley Special Resource Study Getting Underway
In October 2006, Congress passed legislation to reauthorize The Commission for an additional five years. The legislation also requires the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a Special Resource Study (SRS) to explore the potential for a permanent National Park Service (NPS) presence in the Blackstone Valley. The SRS, which is being managed by staff from the NPS’ Northeast Regional Office, will focus on sites and landscape features that contribute to the understanding of the Blackstone Valley as the birthplace of the American industrial revolution.

The SRS will follow a multi-step process to evaluate the significance of sites and landscape features in the Valley, assess whether their inclusion in the national park system would be suitable and feasible and, if so, investigate a range of management options. The SRS will be completed in conjunction with an update to the Heritage Corridor’s management plan and a study of its boundaries and will build upon Reflecting on the Past, Looking to the Future (also known as the Heritage Corridor’s “sustainability study”).

Work on the SRS is already underway, with Commissioners and staff providing support to the NPS’ Northeast Regional Office. One of the next steps will be to organize a site visit for scholars with expertise in industrial history, economic history, environmental history and other relevant fields in order to evaluate the Blackstone Valley and its resources in a national context.

For general information about the SRS process, link here. For information on the Blackstone Valley SRS, please contact Joanna Doherty, Community Planner at The Commission, at 401-762-0250 or e-mail us.

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