Northern Gateway Visitor Center takes big step forward
The Northern Gateway Visitor Center, known as the “Worcester Blackstone Visitor Center”, made a huge step forward with the City of Worcester executing a design contract with Lamoureux-Pagano Associates, Inc. (LPA) of Worcester, MA in early September. LPA anticipates that the final plans and specifications for the rehabilitation of the historic Washburn-Moen building located in Quinsigamond Village adjacent to the new Rt. 146 connector will be completed by the fall 2008. Corridor Commission staff have been attending bi-weekly planning meetings with LPA and the project partners that include the City of Worcester, MassHighway, the Worcester Historical Museum and the Central Massachusetts Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The Commission, in conjunction with the project partners, will soon be announcing the selection of an exhibit design firm to work with the project team. The designer selected will develop exhibits inside and outside the facility to complement the themes of the Corridor’s three other gateway visitor centers located in Pawtucket and Woonsocket, RI and Uxbridge, MA.

The goal of the Heritage Corridor’s network of “visitor centers” is for each of them to serve as a “gateway” information center for visitors entering the corridor from different points. Each gateway visitor center focuses on the unique interpretive themes based on their site and setting and then direct visitors to other places in the valley to learn more about the Corridor story.

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Artist's rendering of the Pawtucket Visitor Center and Gateway

Pawtucket Gateway Design Competition Announced
The City of Pawtucket, in partnership with the Commission, announced a competition to engage the local design community in the development of a sculpture to be located at the Pawtucket Visitor Center at the corner of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue – the southern Gateway to the Blackstone Valley and the City’s 307-Acre Arts and Entertainment District.

Pawtucket has become well known for its annual Pawtucket Arts Festival and its commitment to the visual and performing arts. The Visitor Center serves Pawtucket, Slater Mill, the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley Heritage Corridor and the State of Rhode Island. The challenge presented to designers and artists is to create an innovative design that responds to the unique diversity of the city's architecture and its urban landscape and symbolizes the Blackstone River Valley and the Industrial Revolution.

The competition is open to artists, landscape architects, architects, engineers, product and industrial designers and it will consist of two stages. The first stage will be the submission of qualifications showing previously completed projects, and in the second phase the selected artists will prepare design proposals for the project. A jury of Rhode Island design professionals, artists, and university professors will review design submissions and select the finalist. Selection of the finalist will be based upon originality, creativity, contextual fit and constructability.

For more information, visit www.pawtucketartsfestival.org or call 401-724-5200 x 438, or e-mail us

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Volunteer Program Highlights
The Volunteers In Parks (VIP) Program of the Heritage Corridor continues to grow throughout the 24 Blackstone River Valley communities. Park volunteers contributed an amazing 51,688 hours for fiscal year 2007. Opportunities to volunteer are abundant. A volunteer program highlight is the newly created Blackstone Valley Interpreters Network (BVIN). The goal of this group is to bring together guides from the region to share stories, feature sites, learn about trade solutions and network. The BVIN is a new and innovative way of sharing the wonderful interpretive resources of the Valley.

A sweet and successful VIP program in the partnership with the Blackstone Valley Maple Sugaring Association and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation is “March Maple Days” at the Blackstone River and Canal State Park’s River Bend Farm Visitors Center. VIP’s sustain the entire operation from interpreting the process of sugaring to demonstrating how to tap a tree to boiling the sap into syrup in the newly built “sugar house.” Over a three-weekend event, VIPs Bill and Valerie Paul managed 28 volunteers who interpreted the process of maple sugaring. This partnership added significant hours to the overall growth of total volunteer hours.

To explore the many volunteer offerings, click here and “Imagine Our Possibilities”.

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Greenway Challenge makes donation to Bikeway Association
Members of the UniBank Greenway Challenge Steering Committee presented the Blackstone River Bikeway Association with a check for $2,500 at the Corridor Commission Meeting on November 15th in Douglas, MA. The Bikeway Association was recognized as the 2007 charitable organization recipient because of their work in the development and promotion of the valley’s greenway and bike connections. Organizations chosen to receive a charitable donation from the Challenge must demonstrate their commitment to developing and promoting the blueways and greenways of the Blackstone River Valley. For more information, visit www.greenwaychallenge.org.

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