Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

By C. Eugene Emery Jr.
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- Saying he wanted to explore "what maybe might possibly could occur," the Department of Environmental Management director said today he wants to look at ways private companies and organizations could help pay for the maintenance and improvement of some state-owned recreational facilities.

In exchange, the companies and organizations could be granted the opportunity to make money off the land.

By a unanimous vote today, the State Properties Committee gave DEM chief W. Michael Sullivan its blessing for exploratory "requests for information" about such "potential public/private partnership opportunities."

Sullivan named six sites: the golf course at Goddard Park in Warwick, Haines Park in Barrington, Beach Pond in Exeter, World War II Memorial State Park in Woonsocket, and Jerusalem and Salty Acres, a parcel next to the Fishermen's Memorial State Park and Campground, both in Narragansett.

At Goddard Park, the golf course "has no irrigation system. It has ancient equipment," said Sullivan in an interview after the meeting. "For us to maintain or upgrade would take a lot of money -- six figures or more. But a private partner can amortize [the cost] over a time frame that we can't."

If DEM tried to set up such agreements, the agency would have to develop formal requests for proposals for specific parcels. Those requests would also have to be approved by the properties committee.

Director Sullivan insisted that, under such agreements, the state would lose no control over the property.

"You would share responsibility," he said. "I'm not the least bit interest in compromising any of the public values" of the facilities.

Leave a comment

Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.

Name:

Email:

URL:  

Remember personal info?

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.