FROED One Government Center Fall River, MA 02722-7700 Tel 508-324-2620 Fax 508-677-2840 info@froed.org		FREEING THE QUEQUECHAN: Main Architect Considers Himself a ‘Planner’ of City’s Green Revolution The Herald News, Sunday, April 12, 2009 - Page A1 Fall River — The Newport Collaborative Architects principal who on Tuesday detailed how this city could become a model for green jobs and industries called himself the “vision planner” — coordinating a road map of how that could happen. John K. Grosvenor described how hydroelectric power could be restored via a crescent-shaped dam and waterfall in the lower Quequechan River and the benefits of removing highway ramps that impede waterfront development as two cornerstones of energy and economic renewal. They were part of a 10-year concept plan that the architect, Mayor Robert Correia and others said can turn the city around and put it on the path to better prosperity the way Providence’s Riverwalk did in the early 1990s. But there are greater potential benefits for Newport Collaborative than being a guide. There are compelling business reasons to join a conceptual vision that public and private partners must support with large investments to bring success, Grosvenor said. His firm specializes in the reuse of existing buildings like old mills, historic preservation, transportation/infrastructure improvements and using “sustainable” practices environmentalists favor. In neighboring Rhode Island, the firm has converted 19th century riverfront mills in North Smithfield and Cumberland into hundreds of residential units with nearby bike paths and businesses. He said Newport Collaborative hopes to bid on such mill reuse projects if they become available thanks to Fall River’s renewable energy plans. “We do a lot of buildings,” Grosvenor said after last week’s presentation of the Fall River Energy Enterprise project. “We probably do more in Rhode Island than any other firm.” During last week's presentation, he showed one image with many red-dotted mills along the path of the encapsulated Quequechan River. He said it is better economically to reuse these mill buildings over demolition and erecting new ones when hydro, solar, wind and geothermal energies can be incorporated. He said “economic incentive zones” could be created along these mill paths to tap into federal and state historic tax credits of 20 percent at each level. And while Massachusetts has not partaken in these credits the way Rhode Island mill developers have, Grosvenor said efforts are underway to remove the state’s $45 million annual cap. He said there’s “10 million square feet” of city mill space that could be reused for new industries and purposes. Their vision of “daylighting” the Quequechan, while a long way from being realized, would not include eminent domain takings, he said. According to Alan A. Amaral, president of the Fall River Office of Economic Development and chairman of the Chamber of Commerce’s Downtown Waterfront Initiative, Newport Collaborative began talking with Correia and other city leaders about renewable energy potential and the Obama administration’s funding priorities several months ago. Grosvenor said it’s believed the Quequechan River can still produce at least 25 million gallons of water a day, noting the river was powered by its cascading falls dropping 130 feet to the Taunton River when it powered cotton mills in the 1800s. Referring to past studies, he said that greater flows and power could be created with modern technology methods. One such study from the late 1970s, by then-Fortune 500 company EG&G, shows plans for a “low-head, hydroelectric generating facility” on the river along lower Pocasset Street, said Paul A. Giroux, who for decades was involved with Fall River development. The city has plans to incorporate the past energy studies into its future assessments, said Amaral, appointed to a head the Fall River Energy Enterprise Task Force to focus the work and perform needed assessments to access federal funds. A recent $100,000 donation from the Greater Fall River Development Corp. will be used “to develop baseline data for renewable energy uses,” according to Correia spokeswoman Inês Leite. A second cornerstone of the FREE concept plan would be removing the tiered ramps built decades ago to access I-195 and badly in need of repairs, officials said. They examined that area more closely during the past few months while the city continued its initial phase of Route 79 improvement reviews along the nearly half-mile stretch between President Avenue and the Regatta restaurant and lounge, said FROED Executive Vice President, Kenneth Fiola, Jr. The city has about $4 million committed in federal funds for that Route 79 project design and study, which Fiola says includes narrowing the eight-lane stretch of that road parallel to Davol Street to six lanes. It would access “8 to 10 acres” to develop the city pier area and adjacent areas with wider waterfront access. Newport Collaborative suggested examining removal of the roads and ramps further south onto Interstate 195. That’s where the Massachusetts Highway Department last year prepared a program of state repair estimates under its “accelerated bridge program” totaling $2.2 billion. According MassHighway’s estimated cost of Route 79 bridge and ramps rehabilitation along that western expressway, it was the state’s fifth most expensive program among some 200 projects. “We were astounded by the $115 million figure,” Fiola said of the estimate he pointed out on a spreadsheet. Correia said their goal would be to substitute the repairs with funds to remove the tiered roads. Fiola, while uncertain of state priorities, said they’d have “a very strong argument” seeking funds “to help reconnect the waterfront — and Battleship Cove — to the balance of the city” in lieu of repairing damaged highway access roads. Another area of more readily available funds is $861,000 awarded by the federal government two weeks ago under an energy efficiency and conservation block grant. During the next six months, the FREE Task Force hopes to identify what work needs to be done and what it will consist of, Fiola said. “We’re starting a process here and we’re going to have incremental success,” he said. “But everything isn’t going to happen overnight.” Back