BOSTON – The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs recently announced over $6.6 million in grant funds to support and improve parks and open spaces in the state’s towns and urban areas through the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
The program is funded and administered in partnership with the National Park Service using proceeds gathered through the sales of federal offshore oil and gas leases.
Once chosen, approved projects will receive up to fifty percent of total project costs to advance equal recreative opportunity across the state.
This year’s awards include sizable investments in parklands in Boston, Worcester, and their surrounding suburbs, including $1,000,000 investments in renovations for Clifford Playground in Boston, Carr Park in Medford, and the Great Brook Valley Improvement Project in Worcester.
Further west, Springfield received a $1,000,000 grant to improve the Springfield Bike & Skate Park at Gurdon Bill Park.
“The ability to work, play, and enjoy our outdoor spaces is a matter of environmental justice,” said Rebecca Tepper, Secretary of the EEA. “This program is another example of the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s efforts to ensure our outdoor recreation areas are fairly and evenly distributed among all Massachusetts communities.”
“From a new splash pad to cool off in the summer to an accessible town green for all people to gather, these grants will go a long way to bringing communities together outdoors.”
By, Matthew Tomlinson, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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