Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

WARWICK -- Officials are gathering here this afternoon to celebrate preservation of 41 waterfront acres of the former Rocky Point amusement park.
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, U.S. Rep. James Langevin, Mayor Scott Avedisian and other officials attended.

Since the park went bankrupt and its assets were auctioned, the city has sought to have much of the shoreline and a large piece of the 120-acre tract preserved for the public.

Purchasing the 41 acres resulted from cobbling together more than $4 million in state, local and federal grants.

The state Department of Environmental Management provided $1.4 million and Reed secured a $2.25-million federal grant. The city contributed $800,000.

"This is truly a landmark acquisition. We didn't purchase the Tilt-a-Whirl or the Flume, but the greatest attraction of Rocky Point has always been the view of Narragansett Bay. That view, along with the shoreline and these scenic 41 acres, is what we were able to save and preserve for future generations," Reed said in a statement.

Langevin said in the statement: "I was happy to help obtain federal funding for this project through the years. For too long the Rocky Point property has been closed to the public but with the hard work of federal, state and city leaders that is changing today."

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

 Tags  land preservation Langevin Reed Rocky Point Warwick

Comments

Johnny T. Hiker said:

Good to see, I thought some greedy developer would snatch this land. Hopefully they'll grow some trees and make some hiking trails. It would be great to see the AMC or a similar organization manage this land.

Link | October 24, 2008 1:57 PM
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